Core of a Hero
by Xccj
Summary: A portal has formed between worlds, and the robotic members of Hero Factory are finding themselves on Earth. Furno forms an alliance with a teenage girl named Samantha, and the two of them try to find his missing teammates. But there are others out there also searching for the Heroes, and not all of them have the best intentions in mind.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Furno glanced out the window as their drop ship descended through the atmosphere. He could make out the distinct skyline of Makuhero City, which looked both familiar and different at the same time. It was a common sight for him since Furno had traveled through the city countless times on his way to the Hero Factory headquarters. Now, however, some of the towers were missing and others were leaning at odd angles. The city Furno knew was crumbling away.

It had started weeks ago. First, there were just some mild trembles, but then the earthquakes grew in size and frequency. Damage was widespread throughout the city and across the planet, and eventually it became too dangerous. The civilian bots had to evacuate, and even the Hero Factory headquarters was abandoned.

William Furno was a second generation Hero bot, constructed from the finest quality material by Hero Factory. Hero Factory had been the brainchild of Mr. Makuro. He had watched as crime grew rapidly across the galaxy, and seen selfless bots try to rise up and fail. So he had taken it upon himself to establish a new faction that built top of the line bots who would serve functions of law enforcement and civilian aid in times of need. Or, as his slogan read, "We build Heroes." The initial wave of Heroes had spent years establishing Hero Factory as the greatest protection service in the known galaxy. The second wave of Heroes, of which Furno was a part of, had been brought in to supplement their forces as they faced greater threats. Furno and his team helped raise public awareness and approval thanks to their various missions, and now Hero Factory was a well renowned name known to every bot in the connected universe.

Today, the number of Heroes had grown substantially. They all had unique training, powers, and abilities, and used their skills on all sorts of worlds. Often, they would conduct rescue missions into dangerous regions, or else provide aid in disaster area to help the local bots rebuild. Other times, they would fight and arrest villainous bot whose goals were to steal or destroy. Hero Factory had inspired countless villains to resist them, and so Furno and his team had to train hard to always be one step of the evil bots. And their success rate showed that their training paid off.

Previously, Hero Factory had been run out of their headquarters located in Makuhero City. The city spanned the majority of the small planet, and was a galactic center of trade, research, and social entertainment. The Hero Factory headquarters consisted of a massive tower with various structures spread out below it. This is where they constructed the Heroes, as well as where they made repairs and provided enhancements. There were also various training areas, where the Heroes could test out their equipment and vehicles to ensure they were always in top shape. But most importantly of all, their headquarters was where they gathered all requests for Heroes and coordinated their missions from. Furno was used to seeing the iconic tower every time he returned from a successful mission.

But that was no longer the case. With the damage to Makuhero City, the old headquarters had to be abandoned. Hero Factory has resourceful enough that they quickly got a new setup on a different planet, but Furno was still sentimental.

He turned his head as he heard another Hero speak up. It was Preston Stormer, a veteran Hero who was running their current operation, and had also been Furno's mentor. As the dropship landed, Stormer gathered all the Heroes on his team for one last mission briefing. Furno looked around at his teammates; they were the finest bots selected from the Alpha and Beta teams, all of whom Furno had worked with before. In one corner, Breez, Bulk, and Rocka waited patiently for Stormer to begin. In another, Evo, Nex, and Surge were chatting together, while Stringer sat next to them, silently meditating.

"We're about to land," Stormer said, getting everybody's attention. "Now, I don't need to remind you how dangerous it is out there. Makuhero City is still beset by earthquakes and gravitational anomalies. Based on our readings, they have settled down at the moment, but they could occur again without notice. Luckily, all the civilian bots have been evacuated and accounted for, so this is not a rescue mission." He paused. "Instead, this is likely to be more of a salvage mission."

"A salvage mission?" Evo chimed in. "Sir, are we really going to give up hope on Makuhero City? There may be something we can yet do?"

Stormer sighed. "I'm not any happier about this than you, Evo. For so long now, Makuhero City has been my home. But we still do not know the cause of this planet-wide destabilization, so we have to come to terms with the fact that it may be too late." Regaining his composure, he continued with the mission briefing. "We will be splitting into three teams to try and salvage as much as we can. Stringer, Bulk, you will head to the weapons depot. If there's anything we can move from it in a timely manner, I want it identified. Anything that cannot be moved but could be dangerous I want destroyed. Breez, Rocka, Evo, you will head towards the transportation hanger. If we can get any more drop ships up in the air, we'll need to make use of them, as well as anything else we can get moved. Meanwhile, Furno, Surge, Nex, and myself will be heading to the main control room."

"The control room?" Surge repeated. "What could we hope to salvage from there that we didn't already get when we first evacuated?"

"We won't be salvaging anything in particular," Stormer said. "But we could get a look at the whole facility from there, and determine our next moves from there. Additionally, there are some sensors that Nex could make use of, so that perhaps we can solve the mystery of this planet's destruction before we leave. Now, any further questions?"

The Heroes shook their heads, just as the drop ship landed. As they exited the ship and headed to their assigned locations, Stormer called out one last time. "We have three hours before the next fleet of drop ships arrives, and that's when we'll start offloading what we can. Stay in touch over the coms, and stay on high alert."

The control room was in the center of the central tower, and as Furno and his team approached, they could see that the main entrance was blocked by debris. However, the Heroes were well equipped to travel across rough terrane, so Stormer led the way up the side of the building, until they found a suitable crack in the walls to slip through. Once inside, they had to maneuver around destroyed hallways and more rubble, but even with that it still took them only a short time to arrive in the control room. Furno glanced sadly at the various computer screens, which were usually in use by their support staff. Now, the room was empty and the screens were dark.

"Power's been cut," Stormer noted. "Okay, Surge, let's power this place back up."

Surge hesitated. "Are you sure that's a good idea, sir? If I put in too much, I could blow the circuits and burn out everything here for good."

"This is no time to worry about preservation," Stormer said. "We'll be losing this room soon enough, so if you can get us one last use of these machines, that would be great. If not, it's not a complete loss."

"Understood," Surge said. He closed his eyes and summoned his elemental powers. All Heroes had some form of elemental powers that they could call upon. Furno himself was the Hero of Fire, and could control flames and head. Stormer, inversely, was the Hero of Ice, and could fire cold blasts of ices from his blaster. Surge was the Hero of Electricity, but he was always hesitant to use his powers, because they could easily get out of control and harm him and his allies. This time, he found the power cables for the control room and focuses his powers on recharging the line. After a few moments, there was a hum throughout the room, and the computer screens lit up.

"Excellent," Stormer said. "Well done, Surge. Now, Nex, it's your turn."

Nex, the orange Hero of Senses, sat down behind one of the monitors and started typing. She was more studious than Furno and had learned how to use the various systems that were normally reserved for the support staff. "I'm getting readings from other parts of the building, but not all," she reported. "Just because we have power here doesn't mean everyplace else is up, so we won't be able to get intel from some regions. But there should be enough here for us to make some plans on."

"Good to know," Stormer said, glancing over her shoulder. "But you said you needed to run some scans from here. Can you do that now?"

"Sure thing," Nex replied. "The sensors here are second to none, and we're going to get better readings here than off planet anyway."

"You continue to look into that," Stormer said. "Furno, Surge, start figuring out where our next target is. We want to prioritize undamaged regions with valuable material in them."

Furno and Surge seated behind more counsels and got to work. Furno was a bit clumsy with the interface, but he knew enough of it to make it work. He started scanning regions of the headquarters for damage, and tried to think of the best areas to salvage from. He checked the Hero living quarters, but found that the levels had collapsed, making them difficult to access. Next he looked up the repair facilities. Some of them were not functioning, but others still seemed to be in good shape, and could offer decent machinery to save.

"Got it," Nex said suddenly, but she frowned. "Oh, this isn't looking good."

"What are the details?" Stormer asked.

"We're seeing an increasing number of gravity waves from across the planet," Nex said, pulling them up on a three dimensional map projection in the center of the room. "I've mapped them out, and they're consistent with what we'd expect from a black hole. Only, based on where these are angling… that black hole is located in the center of the planet."

"There's a black hole in the center of the planet?" Surge yelped. "And that's what's causing these quakes?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Nex said. "The black hole itself is probably not large enough to consume the planet, but its location has destabilized the core, and it's causing the planet to fracture. In time, the whole planet will shatter into pieces and become no more than a dust cloud. Makuhero City doesn't stand a chance."

"How long do we have?" Stormer asked.

"There's no real need for urgency," Nex said. "This process will take weeks to complete, and we're still near the start of it. We should have plenty of time to salvage what we can. But this process is irreversible; nothing we have in our arsenal could stabilize the core. This planet is a total loss."

"But there's one question we're not answering yet," Furno said. "How in the blazes did a black hole form in the planet's core?"

"I'm detecting readings of dark matter," Nex said. "This black hole is not naturally occurring. Somebody created it."

Stormer narrowed his eyes. "Von Nebula."

Furno looked up in alarm. "You think he's behind this?"

"I don't know anybody else who can summon a black hole," Stormer said. "And now he's grown powerful enough that he can use it to destabilize an entire planet!"

"But that doesn't make any sense," Nex said. "Based off his known power levels, he shouldn't be able to create this large of a black hole, and he shouldn't have a way to summon it far below the surface. At best, he's only ever been able to make small, localized black holes, which usually don't last very long either. They're still a local threat, but nothing on a planet ending scale."

"With Von Nebula, you can't underestimate his powers," Stormer said darkly. "If he really is behind this, then it is a game changer. If he can destroy whole worlds on a whim, he could leverage that against Hero Factory, and civilian planets would be forced to bow to his will."

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm seeing something funny," Surge said. "The research facility is using power. Like, a lot of power, more than would be standard even during usual business hours."

"Did somebody forget to turn off a generator?" Furno asked.

"I don't think so," Surge said. "And I'm getting readings; there are other bots active in this location. And there are a lot of them."

"Could it be some civilian bots who missed the evacuation?" Furno wondered.

"Unlikely," Stormer said, as he looked over Surge's shoulder at the data. "It's a shame we don't have visual surveillance working," he muttered. "But looking at these location makings… some of these bots are working on something. But the others are on guard duty." He paused again, and then asked, "Nex, can you triangulate the origin of that dark matter you discovered?"

Nex typed in some commands and frowned. "Some of it is coming from the research facility. But there's nothing there that should be doing that. At least, nothing we were working on."

"This doesn't look right," Stormer said. "Makuhero City is in ruins, and the Hero Factory headquarters was abandoned. That could give some villains the chance they need to get access to our equipment while we're not around and before it gets destroyed by the shattering planet." Stormer activated the com to reach the other Heroes. "Change of plans. Everybody, head towards the research facility, and prepare to engage."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Stormer, Furno, Surge, and Nex raced towards the research facility, weapons at ready. The main structure was on the edge of the Hero Factory headquarters, and as they approached Furno could see that it had withstood some damage, as it was apparent that a section of the roof had collapsed in. But there was still power being used, and indications that other bots were active within.

They were the first team to arrive, and they found the front entrance accessible. Stormer led the way in, on high alert for any potential foes, but their route was clear for the time. They started traversing the hallways, which led between various laboratories and testing facilities. The room they were interested in was the largest lab, located in the center of the complex.

As they got closer, Stormer motioned for them to stop. "Nex, scope out the area ahead; let us know what we're dealing with."

Nex nodded and activated a setting on her goggles, giving her infrared vision. This allowed her to sense heat signatures and essentially look through the walls. "The lab we want is up ahead, and I can see two or three bots on guard duty. Someone is in the center… someone large. They appear to be working on something. There's some sort of device that's also giving off heat, but I can't tell what it is from here."

"Good," Stormer said. "We're outnumbered, but we still have the element of surprise. We will wait for the others to arrive and assume positions. Then we will rush in at once, incapacitate their guards and take down whatever it is they're working on."

"Sir, do you think it's him?" Surge asked. "Do you think Von Nebula is here?"

"I assume so," Stormer said. "He likes to do the main work himself, but we know he's hired henchmen before. We may be in for quite a fight today."

"Looking forward to it," Furno said. He was the kind of Hero who relished a fight, and he had not expected this mission to provide any combat. Now they had a chance to take down Von Nebula, perhaps for good this time.

However, he paused; something didn't feel right. "Nex, how many bots did our systems detect in the control room earlier?"

"Five or six, maybe," Nex replied, but then she caught on too. "But I'm only detecting four bots inside right now."

"So where are the others hiding?" Stormer wondered.

There was a sudden rush of air behind them, and Furno glanced back just in time to see two incoming rockets. He grabbed Surge and shoved him aside, narrowly avoiding getting hit. Stormer pulled Nex out of the way too, but the rockets hit the adjacent wall and exploded, causing the entire building to quake. In the smoke, a new figure approached, giving off a gravelly laugh. "So much for your element of surprise," he sneered.

Furno narrowed his eyes as he recognized the bot. He was slightly taller than the Heroes, with a hunched back and large spikes coming out of his shoulders and back. He looked lanky, but Furno knew he was an experienced fighter, who had clashed with Hero Factory many times. "Xplode!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little fire tyke, Furno," Xplode mocked. "And here I thought I wouldn't get to have any fun."

"We've been exposed, so we need to attack now!" Furno shouted to Stormer. "You guys go ahead; I'll handle Xplode."

"Understood," Stormer said, charging down the hallway. "Nex, Surge, with me!"

"So you think you can handle me?" Xplode asked. "You haven't managed the last two times we fought."

"Third time's the charm," Furno said. He held out his arm, and his armor began to shift, allowing a blade to extend out from storage within his limb. Furno detached the sword and gripped it with both hands, even as he summoned his elemental powers. Soon, flames engulfed the blade, which illuminated the dark hallway.

"Then let's begin," Xplode said, drawing his owned spiked sword. He charged forward, swinging it at Furno. Furno swung his own up and the two blades collided in the air, with the clang echoing down the hallway. The two continues to spar, but as good as Furno was at swordplay, Xplode could still match him.

"I honestly wasn't expecting to find the likes of you here," Furno said, parrying an incoming blow. "I thought you were a criminal for hire, essentially your own boss. Now here you are, working as a lackey for Von Nebula. Again."

"Nebula is merely just my current client," Xplode shot back, swinging at the Hero and forcing him to duck. "I'll just say that my talents don't come cheaply this time. That said, you Heroes continue to make it difficult for a bot to find dishonest work in this galaxy."

"So how did you sneak up behind us?" Furno asked, dodging another blow. "Surely Nex should've spotted your ugly mug."

"As a hot bot, I've long since learned how to shield myself from infrared vision," Xplode said. "Just a few simple enhancements and there's nothing to detect. Instead, I merely watched you foolishly enter from the front, and followed in the shadows. You were so eager to bring the attack on that you never bothered checking behind you. And that's why you're going to lose today."

"We've defeated you before, and we'll do it again," Furno said, lashing out with his blade.

"Was that before or after I escaped your prison?" Xplode taunted. "It's happened more times than I can count. Hero meets villain, Hero captures villain, villain escapes prison."

Furno stabbed his blade, hoping to disarm Xplode, but he wasn't fast enough. Xplode caught Furno's sword between the spikes of his own weapon, and with a flick he yanked Furno's blade out of his grasp and knocked it across the room.

"And finally, villain decapitates Hero," Xplode said, swinging his weapon at the unarmed Hero. "Story over!"

"Not yet it isn't," Furno said, kicking back just in time. As Xplode's blade hit the floor, Furno summoned his blaster and hit Xplode with a burst of fire. However, Xplode had heat resistant armor, and he was able to shield himself from the majority of the blast. But this gave Furno a chance to sprint for his fallen sword.

"You're not getting away that easily," Xplode said, and he activated his shoulder spikes, which could shoot out rockets on his command. He fired two of them at Furno, who didn't notice them until it was too late. Furno summoned a shield to block the worst of the explosion, but the force still slammed him backwards into the wall.

"Now time to see exactly what those Hero Cores look like on the inside," Xplode said, pointing to Furno's yellow core. But before he could reach him, something metal struck him on the back of his head, nearly knocking him down. He regained his feet and glanced back to see a lime colored Hero standing in the hallway. "Looks like I've got another victim."

"Furno, get your hot head ready," Breez said, as she snatched her returning boomerang out of the air. Then, before Xplode could charge her, she activated her elemental powers of air and summoned a blast of wind to blow down the hallway. This caught Xplode off guard, and blew him backwards off his feet. Meanwhile, Furno was up again, with sword in hand, and he swung at the villain flying towards him. The blow threw Xplode into the adjacent wall with a sickening crunch, and he did not get back up.

"One down," Furno said. "Thanks for the assist, Breez."

Breez, however, glared at him sternly. "Of course you would attack one of these villains solo. Weren't Stormer's instructions to wait for the rest of us?"

Furno rolled his eyes. He and Breeze had trained together, but their fighting styles and personalities often conflicted, making it difficult for them to get along. But they had eventually learned to put aside their differences and work together in the field. "The situation changed abruptly. Stormer and the others should be engaging Von Nebula now."

"Rocka and Evo should be there as well," Breez said. "Let us join them!"

The two rushed into the main laboratory, and were startled to see a major fight already taking place. There were at least a dozen villains attacking the Heroes now; many had been hiding and leapt our when the Heroes attacked. Stormer was already in a battle with Core Hunter, while Nex and Surge were trying to shoot down the massive Rotor. Rocka and Evo had also arrived, with the former battling the stone-armored Bruizer and the latter attempting to take down Jetbug. Already some of the villains were on the ground, defeated, but there were still too many for the Heroes to all face. Meanwhile, Furno could make out the shape of Von Nebula in the center of the room, continuing his work like the fights around him weren't even happening.

Furno and Breez split up to go help their teammates. Breez threw her boomerang, striking the orange Jetbug in the back as he was throwing fire at Evo. This knocked him out of the air, giving Evo time to slam him with his pike weapon. But they didn't have much respite, as Black Phantom attacked the two of them.

Furno, meanwhile, raced to assist Nex and Surge again Rotor. "How have you not taken him down yet?" Furno asked, firing his blaster at the hovering orange monstrosity.

"Maybe it's because he has really tough armor," Surge said, as he threw an electric bolt from his sword and then watched it merely bounce off Rotor's armor.

"Then you need to up and amps," Furno said. "Nex, give us an opening."

Nex nodded, and fired energy bolts from her bow, directed at Rotor's head. The bolts failed to penetrate his armor, but now Rotor turned his weapons on her.

"I can't use more power without touching him," Surge complained. "And he's hovering out of reach."

"Then we close that distance," Furno said, cupping his hands. "Ready?"

"Ah, got it!" Surge said. Furno gave him a boost that launched him up in the air towards Rotor. With the orange villain distracted by Nex, Surge was able to land his fist on Rotor's back and unleash a mighty blast of electricity. This overpowered Rotor's circuits, and caused his namesake rotor blades to freeze up, and he dropped to the ground in a heap, sparks still flying off his armor. Surge made a less than elegant landing next to the fallen villain, and Furno rushed over to help him up.

"Nice work!" Furno said.

"Couldn't have done it without you, partner," Surge said. Although he was quite a powerful Hero, Surge did have some self-esteem issues, which meant on his own he was rarely able to reach his full potential. But Furno knew how to work with him and bring out his best. The two of them had also trained together, and Furno got along with Surge much better than he did with Breez.

However, their victory was short lived, as a roar filled the sky above them, and a large shape swooped in. Surge groaned. "Not Dragon Bolt! My electrical powers won't even be a slight irritation to him!"

But someone else was already taking on the new arrival. Bulk and Stringer dropped down from the hole in the roof, and the two of them struck Dragon Bolt in the head and slammed him to the ground. The massive dragon recovered and started shooting sparks at the two Heroes, but they expertly avoided his attacks and charged forward on their own. These two veteran warriors had been in the first batch of Heroes, alongside Stormer, and their skills were renowned across the galaxy and even throughout Hero Factory. With them on the job, Dragon Bolt would be out for the count in no time.

"These are some of our most powerful foes," Nex stated, joining Furno and Surge. "How is it that they're all here now, waiting to attack?"

"Von Nebula must've brought them all together," Furno said. "He's going all out, and that's why he needs to be stopped. These other villains are just a distraction; we need to go for Von Nebula himself!"

"Look out!" Surge said, this time pushing Furno clear of an attack. He turned just in time to see the squat green villain known as Toxic Reapa shoot acid at them, but Surge knocked him out of the way.

"We'll take care of shorty here," Surge said to Furno. "You go for the main baddie."

Furno nodded, even as Nex and Surge focused their energies on Toxic Reapa. Furno made a beeline to where Von Nebula was standing, and he wasn't the only one. Stormer had finally managed to knock out the spiked Core Hunter, and was also charging towards Von Nebula. With the two of them, Furno realized that they might actually take him down.

But Von Nebula had help incoming too. Furno sighted a rocket out of the corner of his eye, and just managed to dodge it. Moments later, Xplode jumped towards him again. "Our fight isn't done yet, little Furno!"

Von Nebula got to his feet as Stormer approached. "About time, Preston," he said. "I was wondering when you Heroes would notice that I was up to something. I'm so glad it's you who showed up, old friend."

"We're not friends anymore, Von Nebula," Stormer said, immediately firing a blast of ice at him. But Von Nebula swatted the ice aside with his staff, nullifying the attack.

"You're behind the black hole," he sneered. "You're behind the destruction of Makuhero City!"

"How astute of you to notice," Von Nebula said. "It seems only fitting to test this out on the wretched city where Hero Factory rose to prominence. And my research is nearly complete; I commend you for giving us the time to use your facilities while you evacuated the civilian bots. Without your predictable righteousness, I would've never gotten this far."

"Well, it ends now!" Stormer said, activating his ice sword. He thrust it towards Von Nebula's chest, but he quickly parried with his staff.

"I no longer am limited by a Hero Core," Von Nebula said. "Your attacks are worthless against my armor. You cannot win here, Preston."

The two experienced warriors continued to spar. Stormer clearly had speed and skill on his side, but Von Nebula was able to parry his attacks with ease, almost as if he could see them coming. Stormer realized that Von Nebula's psychic powers must have increased, and he was using Stormer's mind to give him warnings of his attack. But this knowledge could only take Von Nebula so far, and Stormer pressed on his attacks, regardless if his opponent could foresee them or not. What mattered was if he could block them, and Von Nebula wouldn't be able to stay on defense forever.

Furno and Xplode's latest fight continued on with both combatants evenly matched. Despite his recovery, Xplode had taken damage earlier, and his raw energy was lower than usual, and Furno pushed that to his advantage. Yet he still wasn't able to land any solid blows and taken him down for good.

"I grow tired of this," Xplode grumbled. He feigned an attack and stepped back, even as Furno lifted his sword to parry empty air. With Furno caught off guard, Xplode activated more of his spike rockets, which shot towards Furno. But Furno had predicted Xplode to use his rockets eventually, and was prepared to leap to the side. The rockets missed him, and he finally delivered a solid punch to Xplode's head.

But the rockets continued on behind Furno; instead they hit the contraption that Von Nebula had been working on. The explosion didn't destroy the device, but it did severely damage it.

Von Nebula turned in anger at this. "No, you fool!" he roared. "You're ruining it!" But he made a mistake in turning his back on Stormer, who managed to land a solid blow to his chest. Von Nebula was knocked back, and then Stormer hit him with a blast of ice, freezing him to the ground.

"Whatever this thing is, I'm going to make sure you never use it again," Stormer said. "Furno, I could use your fire power."

"On it, Stormer," Furno said, activated his blaster.

Furno and Stormer both fired their elemental weapons at the device, catching it in a combined blast of ice and fire. The combined temperature extremes caused the metal to shatter and the circuitry to dissolve. When the two Heroes were finished, there were only a few scattered remains of Von Nebula's work.

"No, this cannot be happening!" Von Nebula roared. "Not after all this work!"

"You can tell us what you did later," Stormer said. "But this time, your black hole experiments are at an end."

"Foolish Preston," Von Nebula sneered. "I will recreate this device, and I will master its powers once and for all. This is a mere setback."

"No, this is the end," Stormer said. "The only place you're going to is the Hero Factory prison, and we'll have a special cell made up just for you."

"You think you've won," Von Nebula said. "But your victory is premature, because I haven't even activated my back up plan!"

"What back up plan…" Stormer started, but Von Nebula acted. With a flex of his muscles, he shattered the ice holding him, and the chunks flew and hit Stormer in the head, knocking him down.

"Stormer!" Furno shouted, racing towards his mentor. But something grabbed his arm, and he turned to see that Xplode had him in his grasp.

"Not so fast, Hero," Xplode said, and he delivered a powerful punch to Furno's chest, directly striking his Hero Core. Furno fell back, more winded than usual from the blow, which had hit him in a vulnerable spot.

Von Nebula pulled out a small device, and attached it to his Orb Staff. He lifted it high above his head, and roared, "Let this be the end of Hero Factory!" With that, he activated its powers, which caused a bright flash that illuminated the room.

The fighting quickly ceased, as the villains began to flee, finally giving the Heroes some breathing room. "Von Nebula is a fool," Bulk said, as he watched Dragon Bolt fly away. "He just scared off his own henchmen."

"Perhaps," Nex said, glancing around. "Or perhaps they know something we don't."

Something in the air formed over Von Nebula, and moments later it resembled a black hole, one of his favorite attacks. But this wasn't one of his standard black holes; for it has a powerful suction to it, and soon everything in the room was being drawn towards the opening, Hero and villain alike. However, since most of the villains had already retreated, few were getting caught up in the pull of Von Nebula's attack.

Furno and the others grabbed onto various objects to resist the suction, but it was as powerful as the pull from the vacuum of space. Furno watched in horror as Stormer was lifted off the ground, having been too dazed to get a proper handhold in time. Moments later, the leader of the Hero Factory alpha team was sucked into the void.

And he wasn't the only one. Stringer, Nex, and Surge also lost their footing, and were pulled into the void. Out of the corner of his eye, Furno saw Xplode also get pulled in. "Nebula, what have you done!" he roared, before he was gone too. Von Nebula, meanwhile, was the only one unaffected by the black hole, and merely laughed as he watched the Heroes get sucked in.

Furno knew that Von Nebula couldn't keep the black hole opened indefinitely, so he merely had to hold on long enough before Von Nebula's powers were drained. And then he could avenge his fallen comrades.

Only something else was happening. Furno felt his body begin to shift, in ways that were not from the suction. He felt his joints and armor jam together painfully, as if they were getting crushed. But it was a feeling Furno had felt before; it felt like he was getting rebuilt. He had undergone the process multiple times for Hero Factory, but this time the process was being forced upon him.

The other Heroes were undergoing a similar transformation, and unfortunately it was compromising their ability to resist the suction. First Evo, then Bulk, and then Breez lost their grip and were drawn into the black hole. A few other villains were also drawn in, and finally Rocka's hold on the wall gave way as she lost control of her hands. Soon, only Furno was left.

"Give in, Hero," Von Nebula sneered. "I know you can't last much longer."

"You won't get away with this!" Furno roared. "We will stop you! I will stop you!"

"I'd like to see you try," Von Nebula said. "But fret not, Hero, for I still have my uses for your kind."

Furno's grip gave way, as he watched his hands merge into his arms, which were already being forced into his torso. But as he fell towards the black hole, he saw Von Nebula leap in after him, laughing like a mad man. But as he fell through the black hole, he wasn't crushed further, and he watched the opening shrink as he fell away from it. "It wasn't a black hole!" he thought to himself. "He opened up a portal! But a portal to where?"

But the portal's destination was not to be revealed to Furno, because his body was still changing and condensing. Moments later, his helmet was affected, and his vision went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Samantha glanced over her shoulder, and she could see the approaching figures between the trees. With determination, she picked up her pace. She was running through a semi-dense forest, where she had hoped to lose her pursuers. However, although she knew the forest well enough, so did the people chasing her.

She turned off the vague trail and headed deeper into the forest. She glanced behind her to see that two boys were catching up with her, and turned off the trail as well. As her gaze returned to what was in front of her, she suddenly sighted a fallen tree, which would block her path entirely. It was too low to the ground to crawl under, and too tall for her to easily jump over. But Samantha wasn't going to let it block her path.

As she got close enough, she jumped towards one of the branches on the side, and as her foot hit the wood she kicked off. She flipped herself up and over the tree, and landed steadily on her feet on the other side. She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath and congratulate herself; her gymnastics coach would've been proud of that move. Behind her, she could hear the two boys slow down as they approached the tree. They would be able to climb over it, but Samantha had bought herself some time to get ahead of them.

She pushed on, dodging around the foliage as she pressed deeper into the forest. She could still hear the people behind her; there were about six of them chasing her, maybe more. They were spreading out, making it tougher for her to slip past them. But Samantha knew that if she could find the right hiding spot, they wouldn't even sight her if they walked right by her.

Suddenly, Samantha's foot sunk into some mud. She came to an abrupt stop, and stepped backwards. Ahead of her was a wide, wet marsh. She could wade through it, but it would slow her down in addition to ruining her shoes. She cursed herself for forgetting about the marsh; now she would have to backtrack to get around it.

She turned around, only to see that one of the boys had caught up to her. He grinned, and shouted, "I found her; she's over here."

Samantha tried to dart past him, but the boy blocked her in. She was forced to back up to the edge of the marsh. The rest of the boys gathered around her, trapping her. She couldn't run anymore.

A large, muscular boy pushed to the front. "Looks like the chase is over, Sam," he said. "You're quick like a fox. But my father has taken me on fox hunts before; you just need to know how to trap them."

"What do you want from me, Gerald Dax?" Samantha sneered, addressing the boy. "Congratulations for using your pals to chase down a single girl?"

"As if you even count as a girl," Gerald shot back. "You look more like a tomboy to me."

Samantha frowned. That wasn't the first time she had been described as such. She was stockier than most of the girls she knew, and it didn't help that she had more muscle too. But she had never liked being addressed as a tomboy, as if she didn't look much like the girl.

But then again, Gerald wasn't exactly known for being polite. "You know what I want, Sam. Give me the turtle."

Samantha forced a smile. "What turtle?"

"My turtle."

"I didn't know you had a turtle. Are you a reptile enthusiast after all?"

"The turtle you stole from us!" Gerald said.

"Oh, you mean the turtle that you took from Timothy," Samantha said in mock astonishment.

"Little Timmy gave that turtle to me!"

"From what I saw, you bullied him and took it from him," Samantha said. "If that was your idea of a gift, I'd hate to see what you go through on your birthday."

"Just give me the turtle," Gerald yelled, frustrated.

"I'm sorry to say, but I don't have it," Samantha said, holding up her empty hands. "Guess I dropped it during our little game of tag."

"You hid it somewhere," Gerald accused, stepped forward. "Tell me where!"

"So you can go and abuse the poor animal too?" Samantha said, shaking her head. "Nope, not happening."

"Then you need to be taught some manners," Gerald said, reaching out to grab Samantha's arm. "When someone important asks you a question, you answer them."

Samantha pulled back her arm out of Gerald's reach. His anger flaring up, Gerald clenched his fist and swung at Samantha. But she expertly deflected his blow with her arm, and shoved him aside. Gerald fell to his knees, carried down by the wasted momentum of his swing.

"Stooping so low to hit a girl?" Samantha asked. "Way to show your true colors, Gerald."

"I already said that you don't count as a girl, Gerald sneered. "Boys, get her."

Samantha bit her lip as the five other boys pressed forward. She pushed back the first few, but even she couldn't overpower five stronger teenagers on her own. Two managed to get behind her and pin her arms down behind her back. She struggled to break free from them, but then Gerald got up and punched her in the gut. Samantha kneeled over, pain sweeping over her.

"That's what you get for your insolence," Gerald said, as the other boys laughed.

But Samantha wasn't going to go down yet. The boys had released her as she fell down, but now her arms were free. She leapt up to her feet and threw her own fist, landing a square blow to Gerald's face. He stumbled back in pain, even as the other boys laughed.

"Hah, that was a good punch," one of them said.

"Nice follow up, Sam," another commented.

Samantha smirked; it was uplifting to get compliments from Gerald's lackeys by punching him. At least they could appreciate a good bit of violence. Gerald, however, was not pleased. He angrily got to his feet and wiped a bit of blood from his nose. "That hurt! How dare you! When my father finds out…"

"Then you'll be explaining to him how you got beat up by a girl after you sucker punched her?" Samantha shot back. "Will this be before or after you brag to him about stealing pets from children?"

Gerald fumed, but didn't immediately provide a response. However, his friends were losing interest. "Come on, Gerald, lets beat it," one of them said. "There's better stuff we could be doing than dealing with Sam."

"She socked ya fair and square," another said. "Let's call it a draw."

"Fine," Gerald said. "We'll let you off this time, Sam. But don't go messing with us again."

"That depends on if you stop crossing the line," Samantha said. "I guess we'll see what happens next time."

But Gerald couldn't let it go without one more bout of violence. Even as the other boys turned around, he darted forward and pushed Samantha. Samantha, caught off guard, lost her balance and teetered backwards. She fell back and landed with a squish in the muddy marsh.

"Now that's the preferred look for you, Sam," Gerald mocked, as he turned to leave too. "Until next time."

The six boys left her behind, even as Samantha pushed herself out of the marsh. She was now covered head to toe in mud and muck.

But she wasn't through yet. Samantha backtracked her way through the forest, making sure that she still wasn't being followed by Gerald or his flunkies. Finally, she knelt down next to an old tree stump, and removed some moss to reveal the hollow interior. Placed inside was a small turtle, which was lightly pawing against the wood.

Samantha gently picked him up. "Let's get you back to your owner."

A short while later, Samantha rang the doorbell of a nearby house. A few moments later, a ten year old boy answered.

"Hello Timothy," Samantha said, and she held out the turtle. "I believe this is yours."

"Mr. Shelly!" Timothy exclaimed, taking the turtle into his arms. "Thanks Samantha!" He frowned. "Why are you all dirty?"

"Just tripped and fell in a mud puddle," Samantha responded. "No need to worry."

"Thanks again," Timothy said. "But I don't get it. Why did you help me when those guys were bullying me?"

Samantha flashed a smile. "I guess I just like to help people."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Samantha walked down the road to her house as the sky darkened above her. It was late in the afternoon, and soon it would be evening. The air outside was still warm; in the summer it didn't even get cold at night. But Samantha's mom had given her a curfew, and that meant that she had to be back home by nightfall.

Her full name was Samantha Peregrine. She was a high school girl, currently seventeen years old and preparing to enter her final year of school at the end of the summer. She was of moderate height, but with broad shoulders and arm muscles, which made her appear more boy-like compared to her female peers. She had mid-length silky black hair and bronze skin, which she had inherited from her Latino mother.

Samantha didn't have the same interests as most of the other girls she knew. When she had been younger, her parents had signed her up for gymnastics, which she had enjoyed until she grew too large for it. Instead, she had turned her interests to martial arts, where she was able to use what she had learned in gymnastics and apply it to self-defense techniques. Knowing how to hold herself in a fight had given Samantha confidence, but it sometimes came at a cost. Especially when she went up again her school's most notorious bully, Gerald Dax.

Gerald Dax was the son of a wealthy CEO who ran an international tech company. In addition to being quite rich, Gerald was also athletic, having excelled on the school's football team. But his physical strength and prestigious family made him think he could get away with anything, and he was always pushing people around. Samantha's skirmish in the forest hadn't been her first encounter with Gerald, and she was sure it wouldn't be her last either.

Granted, messing with bullies hadn't been Samantha's initial plans for the day. She had planned to head into town to run some errands, but she had gotten sidetracked and now the stores she had been planning to visit were closed. She would have to put off her trip until tomorrow.

She didn't exactly have a carefree summer planned out. While her other friends were off vacationing at the beach or other foreign locals, Samantha was stuck at home. Mrs. Peregrine was off at a month long tech conference set in the Midwest. She had almost taken Samantha with her, but Samantha preferred to stay in her home state of California. Only her mom hadn't given her permission to stay at home alone without a bunch of chores. She was to have the garage cleaned out before Mrs. Peregrine returned, and she was to be back home by nightfall and couldn't invite any of her friends over. It wasn't her best summer even, but at least she could continue going to her martial arts sessions and hang out with some of her friends during the day.

Part of Samantha now wished that she had done something else for the day. She was still coated in mud, and her shoes were wet and squishy. But still, it was almost worth it just to get the chance to punch Gerald in the face.

Headlights suddenly illuminated Samantha, and she held up her hand to cover her eyes. Yet another thing she was going without this summer was a motorized vehicle; her mom still hadn't allowed her to get her license, and she didn't have a car to drive anyway. But that was not true of the girl who pulled up next to her and rolled down the window.

"Samantha, there you are!" she said, pulling her car to the side of the road. "You didn't show up in town earlier. I thought we were going to meet up! I didn't know what to do, and started worrying that you got lost or kidnapped or ran away or…"

Samantha flashed a smile. "Sorry Vicki, I kind of got sidetracked."

Vicki Kesler was Samantha's closest friend. She was tall and blonde, but she had quite the sharp mind. Both her parents were lawyers, and from them Vicki had developed a textbook like ability to gather and interpret facts. However, she was also extremely talkative, and could just go on and on if people let her. Samantha had eventually learned how to interrupt her and carry on a regular discussion, but it required some communication skills on her part.

Vicki glanced down at Samantha's mud soaked outfit. "What happened to you?" she asked. "Were you doing one of those crazy new mud bath things? No, they wouldn't do that over your clothes, that defeats the whole purpose. Oh, I know, you were out in the forest again, weren't you. Were you trying to research some of the wildlife, or did you fall in accidentally. No, you must've fallen, because you're entirely covered, unless you were trying to wade through the mud…"

"I just fell in," Samantha reassured her.

Vicki narrowed her eyes. "You're too graceful for this to have been an accident. Somebody else pushed you in. Who did it? Were they trying attack you. Oh-my-gosh, were they trying to kidnap you and you had to fight your way out?"

"It was just Gerald and his gang," Samantha explained. "They kind of caught me off guard."

"Did they hit you?" Vicki asked. "If it was unprovoked, we could sue for assault. Unless you threw the first punch." She paused briefly. "You didn't throw the first punch, did you?"

Samantha smiled meekly. "No, but I threw the second."

"Well, that would probably not go over well in court," Vicki mused.

"Look, I don't want to sue him or anything," Samantha said. "He was just messing around with the kid Timothy and I stepped in to counter him. Escalating it further won't help."

"Fine," Vicki said. "But you know that violence isn't always the answer, Samantha. Although, on an entirely unrelated topic… what was your punch like?"

"Got Gerald right in the face," Samantha said with a grin. "Went down like a sack of potatoes."

"That's my girl!" Vicki exclaimed. "Now, hop in, I'll drive you the rest of the way home. You don't want to walk around out here like that."

"But won't that get your car dirty?" Samantha asked.

"Then I'll clean it later," Vicki said offhandedly. "But it's a favor for a friend. Your place is still a ways away and you don't look comfortable walking around in those shoes."

"Thanks," Samantha said, gingerly entering the car. "Most of the mud on my pants has dried up anyway."

"No worries," Vicki said. "Now, tomorrow, we'll do this meet up right. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon, so try not to get in any fights before then."

"It's a deal," Samantha said with a laugh.

It took only ten minutes for Vicki to reach Samantha's place, saving her a half hour's walk. As Samantha got out of the car, Vicki reiterated her plans for tomorrow and promised to meet up in the afternoon. Samantha watched her drive off into the darkness. Vicki was sometimes difficult to deal with, but underneath it all she was a great friend. Samantha didn't have many other friends, so she valued her friendship with Vicki all the more.

Samantha took an hour to get cleaned up and changed. As she sat down in her living room, she noticed her cell phone, which she had left behind when she had initially left the house. Her mother had left her a couple messages, asking about her progress on cleaning the garage. Samantha groaned to herself; she hadn't even started that task yet.

Deciding there was no time like the present, Samantha put on her spare set of shoes and walked out to the garage. It was a clear night, and the air was the perfect temperature; not too hot or too cold. Samantha opened the garage door and coughed as a cloud of dust billowed out. Inside were various trinkets that her parents had collected over the years. Some of it was paraphernalia collected by Mrs. Peregrine on her travels, while there were half-finished machines her father had once working on. Samantha had been charged with organizing it and determining what could be thrown out or sold. It was quite the monstrous task.

Samantha spent ten minutes just glancing over everything that was there. There was quite a bit of junk to throw out; she would need to eventually drag it out of the garage and get it taken to the dump somehow. But she decided that it would be best to do during the day. For now, she was just trying to figure out just what she would need to sort out. She couldn't even see half the stuff because it was buried within piles of boxes.

She pushed one box to the side and sighted a telescope she and her mom had used when she was young. "I wonder if this still works," she said to herself. She pulled it from the pile and took it outside. There was still the faint glow of civilization on the horizon, but Samantha's house was far enough removed from the city that there wasn't too much light pollution. She set up the telescope and glanced through it, and found that it offered a clear look at the night sky.

"Great, it still works," she said. "I guess we could probably sell this then. Although it will be sad to see it go; I remember using this as a kid."

She looked through it again and tried to remember the various star constellations she had learned about. Astronomy had once fascinated her, because there was so much out there to discover. But she had focused her studies elsewhere, so she no longer remembered all the space facts she had ever learned.

But then something odd caught her eye. There was an object moving in her field of view. She paused, wondering what it was. It wasn't a shooting star, because it was lasting too long. Perhaps a satellite.

She looked up without the telescope, and saw the bright object with her naked eyes. It was moving quite fast across the sky, and was also very bright. And Samantha imagined that it was also growing in size.

In fact, it seemed to be heading directly towards her!

Samantha realized this and took off running for shelter. But it was too late. The object crashed right into her garage.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Samantha looked up after the collision. The object had slammed into the roof of her garage, sending a small explosion of wood splinters through the air. But that seemed to be the extent of the damage; her house had not been swallowed up in a new crater.

She cautiously peaked into the garage. The shockwave of the collision had thrown everything askew, so it was even more of a mess than it had been earlier. Some of the stuff had clearly been damaged, but others were just shuffled around. However, a small fire had been sparked with some of the paperwork, and was threatening to spread.

Samantha quickly retrieved a fire extinguisher, and blew out what flames there were. Some paperwork had been singed, but it wasn't anything important. All things considered, Samantha had lucked out since there wasn't that much damage.

"Figures I'd have to deal with a freak meteor collision," she grumbled to herself, looking up at the hole in the roof. "This is going to be a strange one to explain to mom."

At this point, she needed to sort through stuff just to assess the damage. She started moving boxes of supplies around, and formed one pile of broken or damaged objects and another of things that had survived. However, to her surprise, she couldn't see any sign of the meteorite that had struck the garage.

"I wonder if it did burn up upon impact," she mused. "I was hoping to at least get a space rock out of this, but instead it's just damage."

As she moved aside a box of machine bits, something caught her eye. It was a round silver object lying on the ground. Curious as to what it was, Samantha leaned over to pick it up, but pulled her hand back quickly, as the object was quite hot.

"Where did this even come from?" Samantha wondered. But then she noted the position, and looked up to see the hole in the roof directly above the object. The trajectory seemed to line up; the hot silver object was what had crashed down into her garage.

"How is that possible?" Samantha said out loud to herself. She grabbed a towel to wrap around her hand to help with the heat, and used it to flip over the object over. It was almost perfectly round, with some decorative edges along the side, was adorned by a large carved H symbol, with a small indent in the very middle. Samantha frowned. "This is not a meteorite at all."

The object was starting to cool down, so Samantha flipped it over in her hands, studying it. The edges were too precise to be natural; this was some sort of man-made object. Perhaps it was a piece from a satellite or the space station, but Samantha couldn't fathom what use it would serve. All the same, it seemed too well designed to be a random piece of debris. So what exactly was it, and how did it fall out of the sky and into her garage?

"This is really strange" Samantha said, touching the H symbol with her finger. "It doesn't even look like it got damaged in the collision. Unless this indent in the center is new." Gingerly, she pressed on the indent. Suddenly, the object began to warm up again, and its color began to change. The silver quickly transitioned to a bright yellowish color.

Samantha yelped out and dropped the object in surprise. It hit the floor, but then it started to shake. As Samantha backed up, it began to expand in size. Metal sidings seem to emerge from the interior of the object, and an external shell began to form. Even as surprise and fear started to cloud Samantha's thoughts, she realized that the object was forming a body, and limbs began to extend out on the sides.

Sparks fell off the side of the object, threatening to ignite another fire. Some of the damaged items were pushed aside by the growing object. Samantha ducked back behind a pile of boxes, but glanced over the top as the full figure began to form. It was a humanoid, colored in crimson and silver armor, with the yellow H remaining visible in the torso. An intricate head began to form, and suddenly yellow eyes lit up behind the face. As they did, Samantha ducked down into hiding again, away from the gaze of whatever had just appeared.

The process had only taken about thirty seconds, but in that time, the small object had transformed into a man-sized robot.

It took a few moments, but then the robot started to move its arms and legs. Its yellow eyes started to blink, and then it looked around, slightly startled. Samantha could hear the metal on metal sound in its joints as it moved. Then it started to speak, but it was in a language Samantha had never heard before.

The robot started to settle down, having taken in its surrounding and found no immediate threat. It tapped the side of its head and started speaking again. But whatever it was expecting didn't happen, and it kept on tapping its head. Frustrated, the robot tried to take a step forward, and hit one of the piles Samantha had been gathering.

As the pile of stuff hit the ground, Samantha gasped involuntarily. She quickly covered her mouth, but the robot had heard her. It turned in her direction, and spoke again in its odd language. However, despite being fairly robotic, Samantha sensed a certain tone in the voice. The robot was startled as well.

The robot seemed to grow bored waiting, and turned around and started walking towards the door. If it continued on its path, it would eventually be able to sight Samantha, so she decided to take the chance and move. Perhaps when the robot was gone, she could call for help. But who could even help against a high tech robot like this?

She started moving, but then froze as she emerged from behind the boxes, as the robot was now staring directly at her. It had feigned its earlier disinterest as a way to draw her out. The metal on its arm started to shift, and the robot's hand changed into a sort of weapon. Samantha immediately threw her hands up.

The robot questioned her again, but while it was pointing a weapon at her, it seemed confused. After the robot stopped, Samantha risked speaking. "I… don't understand you."

The robot raised a metallic eyebrow and spoke again. Samantha decided to elaborate. "I do not speak whatever language you are speaking. I can't tell what you're trying to say."

The robot blinked, and sudden said, "Language analysis in progress. Please continue."

"Language analysis?" Samantha repeated. "Wait, you can speak English now."

The robot nodded and lowered its weapon. It gestured to her, as if asking her to continue. Samantha nervously said, "Well, I understand English and Spanish, if that helps. I'm a little rusty on my Spanish, actually, but I know enough to hold a conversation. I haven't really taken any other language classes, but my friend Vicki has."

"Language analysis complete," the robot said. "I can now understand your language, and you can understand mine. I forget that not everybody has a language chip built in, so it can take some time for it to kick in."

"Language chip…?" Samantha repeated.

"Now that we can properly communicate, I would like you ask you some questions," the robot said in a serious tone. "Are you involved with Von Nebula and the destruction of Makuhero City?"

"I… what?" Samantha stuttered. "Um, no, no I'm not. I don't even know what any of that means, even if I do kind of understand the words."

"You must be a civilian bot," the robot said. "It appears that I have been teleported to another world. Please, can you tell me what sector we are in?"

"Sector?" Samantha repeated. "You mean like what state we're in? It would be California."

The robot nodded. "And the planet?"

"Planet?" Samantha repeated again, getting even more confused. "Earth, of course."

"Sector California, planet Earth," the robot repeated. It tapped on its wrist, and a three dimensional star map appeared above it. The robot gazed over it for a moment, but then said, "It looks like I don't have these coordinates recorded. I will require further details to determine my location."

"Wait, how did you do that?" Samantha asked. "Where are you from? What exactly are you?"

"You act like you've ever seen a Hero before," the robot said with a chuckle, and Samantha noted a hint of arrogance in his tone. "Are you that far removed from civilization that you don't even recognize me? I am kind of a celebrity, after all."

"No, I don't recognize you at all," Samantha said slowly. "You were just this piece of metal that crashed into my garage and now you're a big robot. How is any of this normal?"

"Fair enough, this is quite the unusual situation," the robot agreed. "As for introductions, I am William Furno, codenamed Furno, elemental Hero of Fire, member of Alpha Team of the Hero Factory. At your service."

Samantha blinked. She still didn't understand what was going on. "I've never heard of Hero Factory before, Mr. Furno," she said. "And I've never seen a robot quite like you before either."

Furno frowned. "You must be a truly backwater world," he said. "But I am quite impressed with your mechanics. They blend in quite well, leaving no joints exposed. How does you armor allowed for movement when it's so tightly wound?"

"I am not wearing armor," Samantha said.

Furno blinked. "I don't understand."

"We have that in common," Samantha said, her frustration starting to overcome her fear. "Look, explain what Hero Factory or whatever is, from the beginning."

"I always thought everybody knew about this," Furno said. "Okay, to sum it up, Hero Factory is a collection of the highest quality bots in the galaxy. We're equipped with the latest technology and enhancements to better protect the galaxy from evil. That's what we are; we're heroes."

"But this is Earth," Samantha said. "There are just people here. We have some robots, but none are as advanced as you seem to be. We don't have a galaxy; we just have our one planet."

"Then you must really be outside of our galaxy," Furno said. "I must have teleported quite a ways."

"You were teleported?" Samantha asked.

"My team and I were in the middle of a battle with Von Nebula, but then he opened up some sort of portal, which sucked us all in," Furno said. "The next thing I knew, I was reactivated in here. My team was in trouble, and I need to meet back up with them. Is there anything you can do to help me?"

"I…I don't know," Samantha said. "Maybe I could put you in touch with the authorities and…"

Furno suddenly held up his hand. "Something is outside," he said. "Is this another one of you civilian bots?"

"What?" Samantha asked. "There shouldn't be anybody outside…"

Furno darted forward suddenly, pushing Samantha down. Moments later, twin red lasers sliced through the wall of the garage where they had just been standing. Entering through the opening was a small helicopter drone. Its turbines spun and rotated it around, so its camera could survey the interior of the structure. It paused as it sighted Furno, and charged up its lasers again.

Furno grinned. "Now you are being openly hostile. Perhaps it's time to show exactly what a Hero can do."

Furno reactivated his weapon, and aimed it at the drone. But when he fired it, nothing happened. Furno frowned. "First long range communications are down, and then my fire blaster stops working? I am going to need some serious upgrades when I get back."

The drone fired its lasers again, forcing Furno to duck to avoid the shot. "Okay, let's engage in close range combat instead," he said. Furno darted forward, throwing his metallic fist at the drone. But it quickly rose up and flew out of reach. Meanwhile, it reactivated its lasers again.

"Oh no, you're out of my reach," Furno mocked. "It's a real shame I don't have the reinforced leg springs. Oh wait, I do!"

Before the drone could fire, Furno leapt up into the air, and easily grabbed the drone before it could fly out of range again. Then he swung it down to the ground, crushing the drone completely.

"Not tough stuff," he said smugly. "Now just need to make sure that civilian bot is okay and…"

He turned and saw Samantha sprawled out on the floor behind him, unconscious. He had saved her from the lasers earlier when he had tackled her, but it had been a bit too forceful, and he had knocked her out.

"These civilian bots are indeed quite fragile," Furno said, gently picking her up. "Now what to do next?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Samantha woke up groggily as the morning sun streamed across her face. Her whole body was aching, as if she had just being through an intense trading exercise. Groaning, she pushed herself up, and found that she was lying on her couch.

"How did I get here?" she wondered. "I must have been really out of it last night. And I vaguely remember this weird dream about robots and stuff. Man, maybe Gerald had hit me harder than I thought yesterday."

She headed to her bathroom and took some pain medicine. To help wake herself up, she splashed some water into her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror; she was quite bedraggled, as if she hadn't prepared herself for bed the previous night. She must've passed out on the couch, but she couldn't remember doing so.

She lifted her shirt, and quickly realized where the pain was coming from. She had a small bruise where Gerald had sucker punched her, but she also had another large bruise on her side. She didn't even remember where that had come from.

"Maybe I fell down sometime last night," she thought to herself. "I was going to go out and start cleaning the garage… maybe something happened there?" She shook her head. "Why is my memory so fuzzy this morning?"

She reached for some healing gel to apply to her bruises, but before she could start, the door burst opened, and she heard a robotic but oddly familiar voice.

"Could you please explain what you did to me last night?" Furno asked, his robotic body filling the doorway.

Samantha yelped and backed up painfully into the sink. "You're real!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I am aware of that," Furno said. "But since saving you last night, I have discovered that I cannot leave the premises. Tell me what you did to my programming that's preventing me from leaving?"

"I didn't do anything to your programming," Samantha said, her voice shrill. "What are you doing in my house!"

"So that's the thanks I get for saving you?" Furno said. "You are so ungrateful."

"Since when did you save me?"

"I saved you from the evil bot that tried to fry you with its lasers," Furno said, still annoyed. "To be fair, I may have been a bit too forceful with my save, but you're still operational, so that's what matters."

"Wait…" Samantha said, her memories from the previous night returning to her. "You didn't save me; you slammed into me and knocked me out! That's where that massive bruise came from!"

"Okay, I apologize for hurting you in the process of saving you," Furno said. "But it was necessarily to protect you from the evil bot. My blaster didn't even work, and that's just one of a variety of features that are malfunctioning. You're lucky that my reinforced joints are still in working order, or else that bot would've had you sliced apart with its lasers."

"You knocked me out and then invaded my house!" Samantha accused. "You didn't even knock when you barged in! The bathroom's a private room, you know!"

"I apologize for not knowing of your cultural customs," Furno said, although his tone suggested that he was not sorry at all. "You see, you have been unresponsive for the majority of the night, and I need information out of you. I should at least get that much after saving you from the evil bot."

"There was no evil bot," Samantha shot back.

"You require a lot of evidence to believe that something exists, don't you," Furno said. "Look, the remains are just outside this structure.

"Okay, then show it to me," Samantha said, her mind buzzing.

Furno turned to lead the way out of the house. He walked through the door frame where Samantha's front door had once been located. Samantha was beside herself when she saw the shattered remains of the door on the ground outside. Apparently Furno did not know how to use a door knob. However, the damage was worse when she saw the garage. One of the walls had been nearly burned down, and the roof had partially collapsed in on everything.

"What the heck did you do here?" Samantha exclaimed. "My mom is going to freak out when she gets back. I wasn't even allowed to have any friends over, for fear we might make a mess. But then a robot came and trashed the place instead! She'll never believe that!"

Furno ignored her rantings. "Here are the remains of the enemy," he said, gesturing to the metallic wreckage on the ground next to the garage.

Samantha shook off some of her panic from the property damage and studied the wreckage. To her surprise, it was indeed a robot, but it looked man-made. She could recognize the damaged helicopter rotors and camera lens. But the high tech laser strapped onto the drone was not something she had seen before.

"It appears to have been a quad copter drone," Furno said. "They are primarily used for surveillance, but this one was also equipped with high end weaponry. It's a type of laser, but I wasn't able to locate the specifics of it."

"Wait, how did you know that?" Samantha asked. So far, everything human had been foreign to Furno.

"I plugged in to your local information port," Furno explained. "The transfer speeds were painfully slow, but I was able to download much intel. It appears that you were accurate in that your world is far removed from the galaxy I called home."

"So does that make you some sort of alien?" Samantha asked.

"By your world's definition of the word, yes, that would be accurate," Furno said. "At first I thought that you 'humans' were indeed a well-connected species, but I found that some of the information I was able to obtain was actually fictional. It has been difficult to sort through, but I have come to the conclusion that you do not have extended contact with any other worlds in your planetary system."

"Well I could've told you that," Samantha huffed. "We've been searching for life on other worlds for decades, but there's no evidence of any yet. Although I guess there are plenty of movies out there that portray aliens and such."

"Either way, we've established that I have indeed protected you from an evil bot," Furno said. "Now, back to my reprogramming…"

"I didn't reprogram you," Samantha repeated again.

"But that's the only explanation," Furno said. "After being ensured that you were still operational, I tried to leave and search for my teammates. But I was only able to travel a short distance when my programming shut off my forward movements. I can move around in a limited area, but not any further."

"But I didn't do anything," Samantha insisted.

"It is very troublesome," Furno continued. "I don't like being controlled by things I don't understand. So now that I've saved you once, how about you lift whatever restrictions you have placed on me and let me go."

"I would like nothing more!" Samantha shouted, approaching Furno. "You have done nothing but destroy stuff and cause me headaches since you arrived. So why don't you get lost yourself and stop bothering me."

"Calm your pistons," Furno said. "I'm just trying to continue my mission."

"No, you calm down!" Samantha said. "You're just some odd robot, but you're full of yourself and seem to think this world revolves around you. But let me tell you something!" she said, pressing her finger to Furno's chest. "The rest of us have plenty of problems too, and all you're doing is adding to them and…"

Furno's eyes suddenly went dim, and his body started to shake. Samantha leapt back as his limbs started condensing, and after a few moments, all that remained of Furno was the rounded crest with the H emblem.

"What the…" Samantha said. She knelt down and touched the H again. It began to shake again and reformed into Furno.

As Furno's eyes lit up, he stumbled. "What just happened? He asked. "How did you deactivate me?"

"I didn't mean to," Samantha said. "I swear it was an accident."

"What did you do?" Furno inquired.

"I just touched your H symbol," Samantha said. "And then you shrunk down into it. But when I touched it again, you reformed. That's also what happened last night."

"You can reactivate me just by touching my Hero Core," Furno mused. "I mean, that should be impossible, but if the calibrations were made correctly, it's entirely possible…"

"I know you like to assume I know what you're talking about, but I don't," Samantha said. "Can you please explain what you're going on about? What just happened?"

"There was this experimental design we were working on at Hero Factory," Furno explained. "Where the full Hero could be extracted and retracted into his or her Hero Core. The idea was that it would be faster to send the smaller core to troubled locations, but then the full Hero could pop out. It would increase time and efficiency. But the project was still in it prototyping stages."

"So now this is something you don't believe can be real?" Samantha asked.

"It's the only explanation I can come up with," Furno said. "But the code is off. The Hero should have full control over when he forms and un-forms. But the process instead deactivates me, and requires an outside user to reactivate me." He paused. "And that would be you."

"So I reactivated you, but someone else recoded you," Samantha surmised.

"So it seems," Furno said. "It may be even more complicated than that. By being the first to reactivate me, your code and my own must have been intertwined. Somehow, I am coded to assist you."

"So that's the only reason you saved me earlier?" Samantha asked. "And knocked me out in the process."

"I saved you because that's what we Heroes do," Furno said. "The latter part was completely unintentional. Still, the coding could explain why I am unable to travel too far from your location. Like it or not, I am bound to you, and you to me."

"But I don't even have any code within me," Samantha said. "I'm a person; I'm a human, with flesh and blood. I'm not preprogrammed to do stuff like you."

"Are you not?" Furno asked. "I was able to download a fair amount of information on human anatomy last night. For example, based on your physique, I have determined that you are a human female, due to the presence of mammillary glands on your upper torso, as well as the genitalia in the groin area…"

"Hey!" Samantha said, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's impolite to mention, you know!"

"I was not aware," Furno stated. "But regardless of the shapes, your species is indeed made up of organic cells, but they are controlled by your DNA, which is a sort of primitive organic code. It is inefficient and full of nonsense or unusable bits, but it is still a code that defines you. So now your DNA code has been integrated into my system, somehow forcing me to stay within a certain distance of you."

"So, what, you're like my bodyguard?" Samantha said.

"That term wouldn't be entirely incorrect," Furno said. "Although I still have my mission to attend to…"

"But you don't want to be connected to me," Samantha said. "You don't like being controlled by others."

"That is true," Furno admitted. "But I have worked under the authority of another. I just hope you are an honorable master that I can devote myself to. For now, I will do my best to be your servant." He paused. "Although I admit I do not have knowledge of your designated title."

"Samantha," she said. "My name is Samantha Peregrine."

"Then I shall serve you, Samantha," Furno said. "But all the same, I have my teammates who are also missing. If they are in the same situation as myself, then I need to find them before somebody evil does."

"Somebody evil, like whoever sent that drone," Samantha said. "And whoever sent that must've been human. But who else knows about you? And were they after you or me?"

"Perhaps both," Furno said. "At this time, I would recommend gathering additional intel. Normally, I would have a support team to assist me with this, but my long range communicator is down. Although it could also be that they are out of range, because our galaxies are too far apart."

"We need to do some research," Samantha agreed. "I think I might know a friend who can help, and he's fairly trust worthy. But I just need you to try to not destroy anything if we visit. And maybe keep your ego in check."

"I suppose I can meet those demands," Furno said. "Although I think you overstate my ego a bit."

"Then I think we can look into your missing friends," Samantha said, holding out her hand. "Partners?"

Furno paused, but then extended his metallic hand and gently clasped Samantha's. "Partners," he affirmed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Samantha gently knocked on the door of the house. "Hello, is anybody there?" she called. It was late morning already, but the house seemed to be empty. There were no cars in the driveway, and no activity was visible through the windows. But Samantha knew that the occupant would probably not be anywhere else, so she kept knocking.

Finally, after a few moments, the door creaked opened, and a younger boy peered out. "What are you doing here, Samantha?" he asked.

"I'm here to ask you a few questions, Erez," Samantha replied. "May I come in?"

Erez Beacan was a timid fifteen year old boy. He was fairly short with brown hair and glasses. He was not very social, and often cooped himself up in his parent's basement when he was not at school. Part of this was because he was an easy target for bullies, being rather shy and unable to defend himself. But he was still quite intelligent, and would often work on advanced projects of his own in his basement. His parents were friends with Samantha's mother, so she had been friends with him growing up. She was also one of the few people who would visit him at his home.

"Is this about your fight with Gerald yesterday?" Erez asked, opening the door for Samantha.

Samantha frowned. "How do you know about that?"

"It's all over the Internet," Erez said, heading back down into his basement. "Gerald and his pals were bragging about in on social media. As is expected anytime they bully someone."

Samantha sighed. "Great, that's going to do wonders for my reputation. Now in addition to people thinking I'm a tomboy, they'll also think I'm weak."

"Oh, I doubt that," Erez said, as he entered into his basement lab. It was quite a room to behold, with three tables filled with electronics equipment, and another desk taken up by three massive computer monitors. One window was displaying a paused video game Erez had been playing, but the others were opened up to webpages, including some social media sites. Erez sat down next to the computer and started pulling up some examples.

"The rest of Gerald's gang mentioned that you punched him right back," Erez said. "Although Gerald himself neglected to include that bit in his posts. Granted, not all the feedback has been positive. Let's just say that tomboy is one of the least derogatory terms used against you. But weak hasn't come up yet."

Samantha glanced over some of the messages and frowned again. "Well this isn't going to help my reputation either, but it is taking it in a different direction, I guess."

"So what do you want me to do?" Erez asked. "I could hack into their accounts and delete the messages. But honestly, this stuff has been up all night, so if you want to get it off the internet, you're kind of out of luck. You should've come by earlier."

"I didn't even know about this until right now," Samantha admitted. "So do these guys go home after a long day of bullying and then engage in cyber bullying? What the hell is wrong with them?"

"Wait, if that's not what you wanted to talk to me about, then what did you need?" Erez said.

"It's kind of complicated," Samantha said. "First of all, I guess I have some questions. What do you think about alien life?"

"Well, probabilistically, life should exist elsewhere in the universe," Erez said with a shrug. "But the odds of us exchanging messages on the same frequency are quite low, so I doubt we'll ever contact any of them."

"What would you do if one appeared in the middle of your room?" Samantha asked slyly.

"Well, to be fair, I'd probably freak out," Erez admitted. "But it would be cool to communicate with alien life. I mean, they have this whole other perspective of the universe. Did their civilization develop like humans did, or did they take a completely different path? All the same, there would be a ton of complications with a first contact between alien species. What if one side has germs that the other has no immunities against? How would they even begin to communicate? And that says nothing of hostilities; even if the humans were passive enough, maybe the aliens would be the kind to strike first and ask questions later. There's quite a lot to consider."

"Well, what if they're peaceful, know English, and are mostly robotic?" Samantha asked, holding back a grin.

"That's rather specific," Erez said, confused. "And incredibly unrealistic. But I mean, I guess it would still be cool to see one."

"Great," Samantha said, pulling out the Hero Core from her handbag. "So this is what I wanted to show you."

Erez raised his eyebrow. "What exactly is that?"

"Just don't freak out," Samantha said, pressing her finger on the center of the H. The core suddenly expanded and began to form Furno. Erez yelped out and pushed his chair to the far wall.

"What is that?" he exclaimed, as Furno's eyes lit up.

"I told you not to freak out," Samantha pointed out.

"I said… you said…" Erez stuttered, and then he slowly pieced things together. "Wait, that was not a hypothetical conversation?"

"Nope," Samantha said. "Erez, meet Furno, a robotic hero from a distant galaxy."

"So this is real?" Erez said, approaching Furno slowly.

"What is it with your species and not believing what you see right in front of you?" Furno grumbled. "Yes, I'm real."

Erez leapt back again. "It speaks!" he said. "It's speaking English. There's no way an alien would come along and be able to speak English. That stuff only happens in bad science fiction."

"It'll happen if you have a language chip," Furno said, tapping his helmet. "It needs some examples to properly translate for me, but once it works, it's an effective communication tool."

"May I?" Erez asked. Furno extended his hand, and Erez started examining it. "Quite remarkable, the mechanics of this are super precise. But I don't quite get how he appeared here."

Samantha quickly began to fill Erez in on the events from the previous night, about how Furno's Hero Core had fallen out of the sky, how Samantha had reactivated him, and how the drone had attacked. Erez took in the info, but was still mesmerized by Furno's robotic body.

"So by pressing onto the core, you can deactivate him," Erez said. "Can I… try it?"

Furno sighed. "Go ahead. It's not like it's painful to me, but it is a bit disorienting."

Erez tapped on the Hero Core, but nothing happened. "Did I not do it right?"

Furno, too, was also confused. "It deactivated me earlier," he said.

"You have to press it like this," Samantha said, tapping the H. This time, Furno deactivated and turned back into just his Hero Core.

"Wow, that was amazing," Erez said, picking the core up. "Like something straight out of a movie! It's quite light like this. It seems quite durable too. And you just have to press the H again and he comes back."

"That's how it's supposed to work," Samantha said, but she watched as Erez tried and failed to reactivate Furno. "That's strange; why is it not working now?"

"You don't think we burned him out?" Erez asked fearfully.

"No, I've done this a couple of times without issue," Samantha said, picking up the Hero Core and pressing the H. Sure enough, Furno reformed again.

"That's funny," Erez said, as Furno's eyes lit up. "Maybe only you can activate and deactivate him. You said that you were connected earlier; maybe that is why?"

"Still doesn't explain why he can't get too far away from me," Samantha pointed out.

"Well, maybe it's something on multiple levels," Erez said. "About how far can he get away from you before he gets stopped?"

Samantha shrugged and looked to Furno for an answer. "Based on your units of measurement, the distance is within a radius of one hundred and six meters," Furno said.

"And that is…" Samantha pressed.

"About a quarter mile," Erez said. "Interesting, I wonder if we could test that. Is it strictly the distance between your two persons, or are there other factors in play?"

"Actually, we had a few other questions that we were hoping you could answer," Samantha said. "Something that maybe you can figure out."

"Okay, but I'm not exactly an expert in alien technology," Erez said. "I mean, I'm a bit of an amateur astronomer, but…"

"Actually, we were hoping you could identify these bits," Samantha said. She took a few pieces of the broken drone out of her bag, including the damaged laser.

Erez frowned at the wrecked pieces. "What is this?"

"It was an enemy bot," Furno explained. "But I defeated it with ease. Still, I am unable to discern the origin of the bot, and it would be beneficial to know more about our advisory."

"It was the drone that attacked us," Samantha clarified. "I've never seen something like this before, but you're a machine expert, so I thought you might be able to figure it out."

"Where's the rest of it?" Erez asked, examining the dented rotor.

"These are the only bits that are salvageable," Samantha said. "Furno did a number on the rest."

"Well, I can tell you that this isn't any commercial model," Erez said. "I don't recognize the basic design at all, but I'm not finding any serial numbers. If any of these parts had been mass produced, then there would be markings to help with all that legal copyright stuff. But this is clean, so it must be a custom design."

"What about this," Samantha said. "It was apparently a laser of some sort."

"That's interesting," Erez said. "This looks like it's a high end device. They've managed to miniaturize the power source for mobility… which of course also weaponized the thing. This is either military grade or from an advanced science laboratory. Or both, since those two things aren't mutually exclusive."

"So the military could potentially be after us?" Samantha said with a frown.

"I'd like to think the military wouldn't open fire on someone's house, but we can't exactly rule it out," Erez said. "However, they haven't followed up on their attack since last night. If it was the military, they're rather inefficient."

"Good point," Samantha said. "But you can't get anything else from that?"

Erez shrugged. "Maybe if I had the full drone to look at I could narrow it down some more, but this is the best I can do from a few broken parts."

"That is unfortunate," Furno said. "But it is not my most pressing issue. You see, I had teammates who were in trouble the last time I saw them, and I fear they may now be in the same situation as me, where they're trapped within their Hero Cores. So I must seek them out as quickly as possible."

"Can you think of anything that might help us find them?" Samantha asked.

Erez paused for a moment to consider. Suddenly, he turned back to his computer and began typing furiously. Concerned, Samantha leaned forward and asked, "Um, Erez, did you hear my question?"

"You said Furno's core fell out of the sky like a meteorite," Erez said. "Furno, what do you remember last before you were activated here?"

"I was in a fight, but then Von Nebula opened this portal," Furno said. "The next thing I knew, I was reactivated within Samantha's homestead."

"So you may have passed through a portal, or a kind of wormhole," Erez surmised. "Wormholes are a theoretical method of traversing large distances, which could explain how you appeared in our galaxy. So that means perhaps you and your friends didn't just appear in our atmosphere, but rather some point in space, and then happened to fall into the Earth's gravity well. To an astronomer, you would appear to be a meteorite."

"And if that happened to you, then maybe it happened to the rest of your team too," Samantha said.

"Exactly," Erez said. "Now, there are thousands of amateur astronomers out in our world, and they all like to share their sightings. Meteorites would be a thing they'd write about. So right now I'm running a search on the web, trying to get a list of all the meteorite sightings from last night."

"That is quite brilliant," Samantha said. "Good job!"

"And we have results!" Erez said, as lists began to appear on his monitors. "There were indeed a lot of sightings last night. It may be possible to use the locations from the various sightings and triangulate the crash sites of the various space objects. And if we can do that…"

"Then we'll know where to find the other Heroes," Furno finished.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Erez continues to type furiously on his computer, as Samantha watched over his shoulder. Furno, meanwhile, had managed to plug in to Erez's machine so he could begin assessing the data directly.

It took about half an hour before Erez pushed back from his computer. "That's all the sightings I can find on the web," he said. "It's not an all-inclusive list, but it's a good start."

"I think I have all the records downloaded," Furno said. "I have finished pinpointing their destinations. Shall I plot them over a map of the planet?"

"Sure, that sounds good," Samantha said.

Furno tapped on the console located on his wrist, and a three dimensional world map appeared in the air in front of him. Erez gasped at the sight. "That is amazing. How exactly does it manage to project such a seamless…"

"Erez, we need to focus," Samantha said. "Okay, now plot the various locations on the map, Furno."

Many small dots began to fill up the planetary map, based on the general geographic location of all the records Erez was able to find online. Erez nodded as he observed it. "Most of these appear to be in the northern hemisphere, which could indicate that all the objects were traveling in the same direction. There's a few in the south, like this one in Brazil, but those might just be outliers. There are a couple of collisions in Europe and Asia, and a few in North America too."

"At least none fell in the ocean," Samantha said.

"Some could have, but nobody was able to see them, so they didn't get mentioned online," Erez pointed out. "But it looks like there are about seven clusters. Looks like there was one in Russia, and a lot of sightings of this on in Japan. And here we can see that there were a bunch of sightings here in California. That must've been Furno."

"Didn't a few of them manage to capture pictures?" Samantha asked.

"Here are the ones that include visuals," Furno said, and the map updated to include images.

"Amazing," Erez said. "Look at this one, it's like the meteorite actually came down in Tokyo. There could've been hundreds of folks who saw that one."

"Yeah," Samantha said, biting her lip. "But there's a problem. These are all spread out across the globe. That means Furno will have to travel the world to find his friends, and if I have to go with him…"

"Do you not wish to do extensive traveling?" Furno asked.

"I wouldn't mind, but there's no way I could afford to," Samantha said. "I don't even have a car to drive around locally. There's no way I could get to Tokyo or any of these other places. Even if I could somehow manage it, my mom would flip out if she knew."

"Maybe we should let somebody else know about this," Erez said. "Somebody who can be of more help, like the police."

"That would be a great idea, except it could be that the military is indeed after Furno," Samantha pointed out. "If that drone was from the army or whatever, then handing Furno over to them could be devastating. Heck, they might also get rid of any witnesses, like me."

"Fair point," Erez said. "If science fiction is any indicator, it can be detrimental to go straight to the government with something this big."

"So we really need to keep quiet about this," Samantha said. "At least until we know a bit more."

"I'm all for stealth operations when appropriate," Furno said. "But let us not use it as an excuse to do nothing. Any civilian bot will understand the needs of a Hero, so I am sure we could get much assistance from the public."

"Except nobody else really knows that you're a Hero," Samantha pointed out. ""People will probably not react too kindly if you show up."

"She's got a point," Erez said.

Furno frowned. "Surely there must be something we can do?"

"I don't know, there's nothing else locally," Erez said, gesturing to some of the images on the map. "All the sightings in California were of you."

Samantha gazed at the three dimensional map, but suddenly something caught her eye. "Wait, what about that image," she said, pointing to it.

"That's just somebody locally who took a shot of Furno," Erez said. "You can even see some of the glow of the nearby cities in the shot."

"No, look closer," Samantha said. "That's the Big Dipper constellation in the background. That means this shot is pointing north. But look on the map; this user was located north of my house. He wouldn't have been able to get that shot from his location with those stars in the background."

"Wait a moment," Erez said. "That could mean there was another local meteorite." He turned to Furno. "Could you include the camera angles of the various photographs and plot them on the map, at least for these ones in California. From that, we could extrapolate a more precise location of the objects and plot out a potential vector.

Furno nodded, and zoomed in on the California area. Little arrow indicators were added to the various dots to show the camera angles. Erez studied them for a moment, and then drew two lines in the air on the map, which Furno included in the projection. Many of the sightings now seemed to point to one of the two lines, but not the other.

"There were two meteorites last night!" Erez said. "In fact, there are a few outliers here, so there may have been even more. To be fair, those outliers could be bad data or of something unrelated, but this is still a step forward."

"Can you create a more precise flight path based on these sightings?" Samantha asked.

Furno nodded, and added new lines to the projection, which were only slightly angled off of Erez's rough attempts. Samantha could clearly see one of the vectors heading directly towards her property, but the other went somewhere else. The second vector ended somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"That's it!" Samantha said. "If this projection is accurate, then the second meteorite crashed down in the mountains, and not so far away either. We could easily go after this one."

"Well, that's still about fifty miles away by road," Erez said. "Not to mention that you'll have to hike in a ways to get to it. If you don't have a car, I don't see you reaching that location any time soon."

"True, but I might have another way," Samantha said, pulling out her cell phone. She punched in a number, and let it ring a bit. Finally, the other line answered, and Samantha said, "Hey, Vicki, how interested would you be in going on a hike today?"

OoOoOoOoO

An older gentleman sat alone in a large conference room. He was tall and muscular, although his hair was already starting to gray. He was currently dressed in an exquisite business suit, and he absentmindedly adjusted his tie. He had just picked up a package, and he set it on the table in front of him and began to open it. He then pulled out a silvery Hero Core.

"Intriguing," he said, weighing it in his hands. "If the rumors are true, this could indeed be the next big thing."

The conference room doors opened, and the man turned to see a woman enter. She was also tall and thin, wearing a smart outfit herself. She had dark red hair curled up in a bun, and wore narrow spectacles. She was currently holding a clipboard, and nodded approvingly at she sighted the man. "You are here. That is good. You have your meeting at one with the suppliers for the new product."

"Cancel the meeting, Miss Seychell," the man said with a wave of his hand. "I have more important matters to attend to."

"Sir, if I could voice an opinion, that would be a poor idea," Miss Seychell said.

"Unfortunately, I didn't give you approval to voice your opinion," the man snapped.

Miss Seychell's expression didn't change in the slightest at this outburst. She was a ridged woman; that was one of the things the businessman appreciated about her.

"If I may elaborate," she said curtly. "You do not want to draw attention to your new matter at hand. If you suddenly start breaking appointments, other companies will get suspicious. They will wonder if you did indeed come across something. They will ask questions, questions that you do not want asked. And that could draw the interests of the government, or other organizations who you would like to keep in the dark." She adjusted her spectacles nonchalantly. "At the moment, it is best to use some discretion, and that means going about business as usual. Your meeting will not cost you much time, but it will keep others from getting too suspicious."

"You thought about this quite a bit," the man said. "Do you think our competitors are all as sharp as you are?"

"I do not believe so," Miss Seychell said. "But I also do not wish to underestimate them. That is what will keep Mirai Tech as the number one technology company. And that will also help you on your extracurricular activities as well."

"Very well," the businessman said, leaning back in his chair. As the CEO of Mirai Tech, he was used to getting away with whatever he desired. However, he had partially hired Miss Seychell as his secretary to help keep him in line. She had the same ambitions as he did, and she never backed down from a confrontation. She was just the kind of woman he needed to work under him.

"Of course, I was hoping you had come to tell me about something other than the meetings I have to attend," the man said. "Do we have any updates on the recovery jobs?"

Miss Seychell glanced down at her clipboard. "Yes, but I should warn you, it is not all good news."

"And you thought to break it to me by hassling me about a meeting?"

"It's about preserving your public image, so nobody gets suspicious," Miss Seychell shot back. "And we'll have our work cut out for us, so that part will be all the more important."

The man sighed. "Fine, get on with it."

"We have identified at least seventeen of the objects," Miss Seychell said. "And we can be assured that our tracking methods are appropriate, because we have already recovered three objects, including the one you have right now."

The man held up the Hero Core. "Yes, this did just arrive. Retrieved in southern Peru last night, I believe. Quite amazing."

"Mazhar is going to collect the others from the various holding sites," Miss Seychell continued. "However, at three other locations, our searches turned up nothing."

"So the tracking failed?" the man asked.

"That is not it," Miss Seychell insisted. "The radiation recordings were accurate, but the objects were missing. They had already been retrieved before we arrived."

"Ah, so that's the bad news," the man said. "So potentially we'll have some competition to get to these. This is troubling, but not unforeseen. A global event like this means that there's the chance for somebody else to beat us to the punch. Luckily, we are far more informed about these than anybody else, so I don't have too much concern over this. All the same, we should make it our number one priority to collect the other objects."

"Understood," Miss Seychell said. "But that was not the bad news I was referring to."

"It was not?"

"No," Miss Seychell confirmed, and handed a printout to the man. "One of the objects was tracked down here in California. When our drone arrived, there was already somebody there, and they engaged with the drone and…" she paused. "It was a total loss. The drone was destroyed."

The man raised his eyebrow. "Now that is indeed startling. How much intel did we gather?"

"Not much," Miss Seychell said. "But it did manage to confirm that a being with the right radiation reading was present. Unfortunately, we did not get the exact coordinates, as the GPS receiver was damaged before it could send the data back to us. We do know that the laser weapon was discharged twice before it was destroyed, so whoever did the deed had to fight back."

"Now that it intriguing," the businessman said, looking over the papers. "Someone has already managed to active one of them, and they clearly can handle themselves against a single drone. Send out some more, let's see how he handles them. Even if he takes down one, the others could transmit some details back first."

He paused as he read more of the details. "I know this area. My son lives there. How curious indeed." He looked up. "Has Mazhar departed yet?"

"I do not believe so," Miss Seychell said.

"Have him change his plans," the businessman ordered. "I want him going after this character. At the moment, Mazhar is the best equipped to handle this."

"I will see to it," Miss Seychell said, shuffling up the rest of her papers. "Will that be all, Mr. Dax?"

Mr. Dax rubbed his hands together, and stowed away the Hero Core he had been handling earlier. "I believe so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I apparently have a meeting I must prepare for. What time was it at, again?"

"It is at one," Miss Seychell responded, and headed for the door. "Good day, Mr. Dax."

"Come now, Nadia, we're friends here," Mr. Dax said with a sly grin. "Call me Terry."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"This is so exciting!" Vicki said, as she stepped out of her car. "I haven't been hiking in ages! Well, I mean, I go for runs and walks around the neighborhood, but I haven't gone into the mountains in years. And I haven't been to this particular area before, and I brought my camera so we can take pictures of bird and animals and the scenery and take selfies and…"

"She doesn't even stop to take a breath," Erez whispered to Samantha, as the two of them exited Vicki's car.

"That's just how she is," Samantha replied. "You get the same way when you get into a project."

"Yes, but how can she be this excited about just regular stuff?" Erez said, as he shielded his eyes from the sun. "And why'd we have to do this today? It's already super hot out."

"Stop complaining," Samantha said. "It'll just be a little hike; nothing too strenuous for even a shut-in like you."

"And I got sunscreen and bug repellant and water bottles and snacks," Vicki continued. "I was thinking about bringing pepper spray, in case we get attacked by bears. Pepper spray is useful against bears, I think. But there aren't that many bears in this area. But then again, what if they're wandering through and by chance we happen to come across one and its hungry and we look tasty?"

"I don't think we'll have to worry about bears," Samantha said, shouldering her day pack. "Thanks again, for agreeing to this last minute, Vicki. We wouldn't have been able to drive out here on our own."

"No problem, this is fun!" Vicki said. "What a better chance than to hang out with my best friend! And also Erez! I haven't seen you out and about for so long. You never come to any parties, and I hardly see you in school."

"Yeah, but now we can go hiking together," Erez said sarcastically. "Fun."

"What were you coming out here to do again?" Vicki asked.

"Um, it's this Geo-Hash game Erez showed me," Samantha said quickly. "We found some coordinates online and need to find this object. It's like this kind of treasure hunt."

"Oh that sounds like so much fun!" Vicki said excitedly. "Maybe we can have a competition to see who finds it first, so it'll be like a race!"

"It's not really a competition," Erez said, pulling out his GPS. "It's more like a challenge for those who like to get outdoors… or so I've read."

"Have you done this before?" Vicki asked.

Erez blushed. "Well, okay, I've looked into doing this before, but I'm not really into going out, so this is the first time I've actually done it."

"Oh that's great, you're overcoming your fear of leaving home to go on an adventure!" Vicki said. "Oh look, there's the trailhead! Let's get going."

"Are you sure it's okay to bring her along?" Erez asked Samantha as Vicki pressed on ahead. "She's nosey, so she'll keep asking questions and try to figure out what we're up to."

"Relax," Samantha said. "As long as we keep this to half-truths, she'll be content. We'll just have to make sure not to activate the Hero Core once we find it."

Earlier, the two of them had decided to keep Vicki out of the loop. The less she knew about this potentially dangerous secret, the better. But they had needed her to drive them into the mountains, and that meant that she was going to accompany them on the hike. Luckily, Vicki was eager enough to go on the hike that she took their explanations without suspicion. In fact, in the hour it had taken her to drive them out to the mountains, Vicki had been the one talking far more than Samantha or Erez.

Samantha nudged Erez in the side. "Are you grumpy because you're actually embarrassed that I took you on a hike with a pretty girl?" she asked jokingly.

"I'm grumpy because it's hot and I don't like walking around too much," Erez grumbled. He started typing in commands to his GPS, and added, "That's all there is to it."

"Ooh, what's that?" Vicki asked, addressing Erez.

"Oh, this is my hand held GPS," Erez said.

"Why not just use your cell phone," Vicki asked. "Mine has GPS in it."

"Cell phones only have a very basic form of GPS in them," Erez said. "Most of them rely on cell towers to convey the information, anyway, so they're not ideal for when we're out of cell range. But a real GPS can work anywhere that you can get a clear signal from the sky. GPS stands for Global Positioning Satellite, and there are now dozens of those satellites in orbit. The GPS I have here needs to get a ping from at least three satellites in order to determine our precise location based on pre-existing maps of the planet. Standard ones can be effective to within a few feet."

Samantha grinned. "What were you saying about rambling on again, Erez?"

"Oh, that's fascinating!" Vicki said. "I use the one in my phone to tell me where to go when driving, but sometimes it's slightly off and I'll take the wrong turn and…"

"Well, it's different out here," Samantha said, cutting her off. "We know roughly where we're going, but we don't have the exact location. With any luck, we can just wander around and find it without too much issue. But it's still a couple of miles from here."

"Then let's get started!" Vicki said, leading the way. "Although we have to be careful, it is forest fire season. There's a forest fire burning not too far from here. Started last night, according to the news, but it could possibly spread this way, so we'll need to be careful. I didn't even bring any fire safety equipment; although I guess a fire extinguisher wouldn't be too much help. Ooh, maybe we'll run into some hot firemen while we're hiking, and then we can chat while they fight the fire and…"

"At least my rambling makes sense," Erez muttered under his breath.

Their hike took them high into the hills of the Sierra Nevada. They quickly gained elevation, and found themselves cresting ridge after ridge. Erez quickly tired out, and even Samantha's stamina began to wane after an hour. But Vicki continued to lead the way, somehow powered by unseen energies that the other two did not have. Meanwhile, Vicki filled the silence with many various topics, from random facts about the outdoors to local politics to the classes she was planning to take when the school year resumed. Erez did not have the energy to spare to talk on his own, so he mostly kept silent and drank copious amounts of water to keep himself hydrated in the heat.

They reached the top of the highest ridge, and Vicki came to a stop, much to the relief of Erez and Samantha. "Look at this view!" she exclaimed. "You can see for miles in every direction! I can just make out the edge of the cities when I look back, and I think that smoke over there is from the forest fire I mentioned earlier. Looks like it's a good ways away, so we probably won't have to worry."

"That's great," Samantha said, taking a seat on a nearby rock. Erez, meanwhile, just lay down on the dirt path, completely burned out.

"So how are we doing on your treasure map?" Vicki asked, sitting down as well as she pulled out some snacks.

Erez forced himself to sit up and check his GPS. "We're actually pretty close," he said. "It should be somewhere around that last ridge."

"Then why are we resting when we're so close?" Vicki asked, jumping to her feet. "Let's go!"

"Why'd I have to mention that?" Erez complained, as Samantha helped him to his feet.

"Look on the bright side," Samantha said. "It's only a short ways to go."

"Yeah, but then we have to turn around and cover that distance all over again," Erez pointed out.

"It'll be easier since it's downhill," Samantha said. "Now hurry up or we'll lose Vicki."

They crossed over the next ridge, and Samantha peered around for some sight of a collision, similar to when Furno had crashed into her garage. At their current altitude, the hillside was mostly covered in browning grasses with a few midsized trees spread out. There were also a lot of exposed rocks that were lacking in any vegetation. But as Samantha looked around, she didn't see anything that would be an obvious landing site for a Hero Core.

She frowned. "How do we even begin looking for it now? I was thinking there'd be… well, some more evidence pointing it out. But nothing up here looks out of the ordinary."

"It wouldn't be much of a treasure hunt if it was too obvious," Vicki said. "Come on, let's start searching! What are we even looking for? Is it in a treasure chest of some sort?"

"No, it's just a…. well, it's a silver trinket, with an H symbol on it," Samantha said. "But if it's hiding in the grass, we could pass right over it without spotting it."

"That's a good point," Vicki said. "Maybe we should've brought a metal detector with us, like they use at the beach. Except those are quite heavy, and this was a long walk." She turned to Erez. "Do you have any ideas?"

Erez was standing to the side, and he was fidgeting nervously. "No, nothing from me," he said quickly.

"Are you alright?" Vicki asked. "You seem like you're shaking. I know you are tired, but maybe you're too dehydrated? Or maybe it's heat stroke, or maybe the thinner air up here is starting to get to you."

"No, it's nothing like that," Erez said. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Vicki said. "Please, Erez, be honest with us. If you're feeling sick, let us help you."

"It's not that," Erez said, blushing. "It's just… look, I have to go to the bathroom."

Vicki suddenly started laughing, which confused Erez all the more. "That's it?" she asked. "You're a man; just drop trouser and go wherever. There's nobody here to see you."

"The two of you are here," Erez said, looking down.

"Ah, of course," Samantha said, giving Vicki a knowing look. "He's pee shy around girls."

"Well then we'll just turn away," Vicki said. "You can go walk into those bushes over there and do your thing."

"That's not really necessary," Erez muttered.

"Sure it is," Vicki said, as she and Samantha dropped their packs on the trail. "It's not good to hold it in too long, after all. You go ahead and we'll look the other way."

"Fine," Erez stammered, walking away. "Just don't look."

"Of course!" Vicki said. "Hurry along, we still need to look for that treasure!"

As Erez departed, Vicki giggled to herself. "He's so cute when he gets embarrassed. I almost want to push it to see how flustered he can get!"

"Be nice to him," Samantha said, frowning. "I mean, he does have some social anxieties going on. There's a reason he doesn't leave his house too often."

"Right, I know," Vicki said. "But this treasure hunt must be really important to him. I mean, he's complained the whole time but he still keeps pushing forward. That's impressive."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Samantha agreed, allowing herself a brief smile. Vicki always chose to see the best in people. But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a new sound in the air. It was the whirl of helicopter blades. "I think something's coming this way!" she said.

"Yeah, I hear it too," Vicki said, looking around for the source of the sound. "Maybe it's some kind of plane? I hope they don't spot Erez; I bet that would embarrass him to death."

But Samantha has already sighted the black spec as it flew over the adjacent ridge. It was a black quad copter drone, and it quickly locked on to the two girls and flew towards them. And she realized she recognized the various parts of this drone, and focused specifically on its charging laser. "Look out!" she shouted, shoving Vicki to the side.

The drone opened fire, burning a hole in the rocks where the two girls had been standing moments earlier. But it realized that they had evaded its first shot, so it zoomed in closer to take them out for good.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Samantha leapt to her feet as the drone zoomed around for a second shot. Samantha realized it was the same type of drone that had attacked her the previous night, likely to finish the job that the other one had failed at.

"Run!" Samantha shouted to Vicki. For once, Vicki was at a loss for words, and she tried to follow Samantha's advice and flee. But she tripped on a rock, and the drone honed in on her.

"Oh no!" Vicki cried, as she saw the drone charging its laser. But suddenly, a rock hit the top of it, throwing off the drone's aim so it blasted the hillside a few feet beside Vicki.

Samantha glanced over to see who had thrown the rock, and saw Erez on the top of the ridgeline. He had heard their shouts, and his timely throw had saved Vicki. But now the drone turned towards him.

"Run!" Samantha shouted to him.

Erez was already taking this to heart, and scampered over the edge of the ridge and out of sight, however the drone was quickly attempting to follow. But if the drone's attention could be diverted once, it could be diverted again. Samantha reached down and grabbed a free rock and flung it at the drone. She missed, but it was close, and the drone noticed the rock and turned towards her.

Samantha had successfully diverted the drone away from Erez, but now she realized that she didn't have a second part to her plan. Now the drone was focused on her, and there wasn't anybody else to distract it for her.

Samantha reached into her pocket, ready to reactivate Furno. If there was any time she needed a hero, it was now. But her pockets were empty; she had left the Hero Core in her pack on the trail, which she had sprinted away from when the drone attacked. She was on her own.

The drone flew in closer, and charged its lasers for another shot. Samantha darted over the ridgeline, but she was slowed by the rocky terrane. If she made a misstep, then she would be easy pickings for the drone. Instead, she'd have to rely on her agility. She glanced back to see that the drone's lasers were nearly done charging. She abruptly changed directions and leapt behind a rocky outcropping. The drone fired its lasers, but missed, and in its haste it flew past Samantha.

She grinned. The drone had speed on its side, but it didn't have her reaction time. There was a chance she could out maneuver it a few more times. It wouldn't help her take it down, but it might give her a chance to double back and get Furno's core.

With a quick burst of speed, Samantha raced up and over the ridge, where she caught sight of Erez running. "Get the Hero Core, it's in my pack!" she exclaimed.

But Erez was preoccupied. "There's more than one!" he shouted back.

Samantha went pale. There was indeed a second drone flying in behind Erez, and its lasers were charged too.

"Jump to the side!" Samantha yelped. "Now!"

Erez followed her instructions, and narrowly managed to avoid the laser blast. The drone turned to aim at him again, but then it got struck by another rock, this time thrown by Vicki. "Stay away from him!" she shouted.

But Samantha knew rocks weren't going to defeat the drones; they needed Furno's help. The drone turned to see who had thrown the rock, but Samantha waved her arms to get its attention. Meanwhile, she shouted to Vicki, "Get my pack, there's something inside that might help!"

Vicki was currently the closest to the backpacks, so she scampered across the ridge to reach them. Meanwhile, the second drone turned to focus on Samantha. Even worse, the first drone had finished circling around and came up from behind her.

Samantha turned and started descending down the cliff, leaping from rock to rock. The drones turned to intercept her, but now they had to be careful to avoid each other's flight path, and this gave Samantha a chance to get some distance on them. But her luck ran out; she stumbled on a loose rock and tumbled forward. She managed to catch herself as she fell so that she didn't injure herself, but now she was a sitting duck for the drones. One of them circled above her and aimed its laser down at her.

But then something else hit the drone. This time, it wasn't a rock, but rather Samantha's entire backpack. The rotor blades started shredding the backpack, but the shoulder straps got wrapped around them and caused them to jam. The drone lost control and pitched forward into the ground. In the meantime, all the contents of Samantha's pack were being scattered in the air. But her eyes locked on one silver object; Furno's Hero Core.

"I'm sorry!" Vicki shouted, standing on the ridgeline above Samantha. "I couldn't think of anything else to do but throw the whole pack."

Samantha turned her attention to her friend and saw the second drone closing in. "Look out!" she screamed.

Vicki turned around, but too slowly. The drone fired at her. However, Erez was already moving, and he tackled Vicki and pushed her out of the way. They landed in a heap nearby, and the drone swerved around to finish them off.

Samantha leapt forward and grabbed the falling Hero Core out of the air. "Furno, we need you now!" she shouted as she pressed on the center of the core. Using the rest of her momentum, she threw the already expanding core at the drone.

The drone seemed to sense the incoming object, and swerved to avoid it. It drew back in the air and aimed down at Vicki and Erez, only now they weren't alone. Standing between them and the drone was a fully formed Furno.

"Oh look, another one," he said. "These bots are really pesky, aren't they?"

The drone fired, but Furno activate something on his left arm. A shield folded out of his armor, and he positioned it to take the brunt of the laser blast. The drone faltered, unsure how Furno had blocked its attack.

"Now my turn," Furno said. He activated his right hand to form into his blaster and tried to fire it, but nothing happened. "Still offline," he grumbled. "Okay, then we'll do this the other way." He bent his legs and leapt upwards, flying ten feet up into the air. But the drone had enough time to fly out of reach, and circled around. Furno hit the ground and moved on, leading the drone away from Vicki and Erez.

Samantha scrambled up the rocks towards her two friends. "Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly.

"What was that?" Vicki said, out of breath herself.

"Are you hurt?" Samantha said, ignoring the question.

"I'm fine," Vicki said. "And Erez is…" she gestured to Erez, who had collapsed on the ground next to her.

"Erez, speak to me," Samantha said, pulling him up. "Are you okay?"

He groaned, and slowly lifted his head. "I've been better," he said groggily.

"Now what is that thing?" Vicki asked, pointing to Furno in the distance.

"A friend of sorts," Samantha said quickly. "I'll fill you in later. But we need to get away while he takes on that drone."

"That's not the only one he has to worry about," Erez said, pointing behind them. Samantha followed his gaze and the cursed. She could see more drones approaching from the air.

"We need to get to cover, now!" Samantha said, pulling Erez and Vicki to their feet. "There are some rocks we can hide behind for now just down the hill. Let's go!"

Luckily for the three of them, the other drones were more interested in Furno. Furno was in a stalemate with the one drone; he could block its lasers, but it was flying out of his reach, even when he attempted to jump. Without a ranged weapon, he wasn't able to take it down. But when the other two drones joined in, he wasn't able to block all their shots. He twisted on the spot, doing his best to dodge. But one of the lasers caught his leg, and although it didn't manage to cut through it, it did enough damage to cause Furno to stumble.

The drones closed in, but Furno stood back up and blocked their next shots with his shield. "It's going to take more than a single hit to take me down," he roared.

But from a distance, Samantha could see that Furno was in trouble. With the three drones ganging up on him, he would eventually take too many hits and go down. After that happened, Samantha didn't know what would come next. Would the drones completely destroy him, or would they attempt to capture his remaining parts? Either way, it wouldn't end well for either of them; when the drones finished with Furno, they would turn back to Samantha and her friends.

Erez and Vicki reached the rocky outcropping and ducked under it for cover. Samantha was right behind them when a glint caught her eye. Further down the hill she could see a small patch of charred grass. From a distance, it looked like another feature in the rocks, but now Samantha could see that the grass had been burnt in a small fire, and in the center of the patch was a shiny, silver object.

"Samantha, what are you doing?" Vicki yelled out, but Samantha was already running down the hill. Her heart leapt as she got to the spot and saw that the silver object was indeed another Hero Core. It was almost identical to Furno's, only this one had a small orange crystal embedded in the center.

Quickly, Samantha reached down and snatched the core up. "Furno needs your help!" she said, pressing the crystal in the center of the H. "I need you to reactivate!"

But the core was unresponsive. Frustrated, Samantha tried tapping it a few more times, but to no avail. The Hero Core would not activate for her.

However, it was bringing her unwanted attention. Furno was taking more hits from the drones, and was beginning to stumble. One of the drones happened to sight Samantha again, and focused in on the Hero Core. It diverted from Furno and flew directly towards her.

Samantha saw it approaching too. "No, no!" she shouted. "This can't be happening!" She leapt up and started to run, but the drone fired. The lasers hit a rock next to Samantha, causing it to explode. Samantha got hit by some of the debris and hit the ground, and the Hero Core fell from her grasp.

The drone flew over Samantha and activated its lasers. But before it could fire, it was blinded by a bright flash of light. Vicki was running forward, with her camera in hand. She took another photo, and the flash on her camera blinded the drone again. "Yeah, let's see you try to hit something when you can't see it!" she shouted.

Erez, meanwhile, rushed forward and tried to help Samantha up. "Quick, you need to get out of here," he said.

"The core," Samantha said. "The core didn't activate."

"We can deal with that later," Erez said. "Now get to your feet."

The drone fired its lasers blindly, and just missed striking Vicki. The shock from the near miss caused her to drop her camera, and without the constant flashes, the drone's optics returned to normal. It turned now to Erez and Samantha, who still hadn't gotten back up.

Erez reached for something else to throw at the drone, and his hand grasped the fallen Hero Core. Tightening his grip on it, he flung it up at the drone. But the drone had foreseen his move, and easily dodged the flying core. It hovered over the two of them, charging its lasers again. But then its attention was suddenly diverted back to the Hero Core, because it was indeed changing.

The core itself had turned bright green, and started to expand to form a new Hero clad in orange armor. The design was similar to Furno, but the detailing was slightly different. The arms and legs were more slender than Furno's, as they were built for speed and precision rather than strength. The head formed, featuring a tiger-like design, but with goggles covering the eyes.

The Hero's green eyes were just activating as the drone charged forward, firing its laser. But then, with startling agility, the orange Hero ducked beneath the laser and swung at the incoming drone. The drone avoided the blow and circled back for a second shot. But the Hero was already acting, as twin polls began to form in its left hand, and they slowly bent and formed a bow. With its right hand, the Hero conjured an arrow of green energy, and fitted it into its bow and pulled back. It took careful aim at the drone and released the arrow. The arrow struck the drone and exploded in a burst of green energy, completely shattering it.

The Hero nodded, and turned to Samantha, Erez, and Vicki. It spoke to them in the same garbled language that Furno had first used, but its voice was pitched differently. Although she couldn't understand it, Samantha thought that it was asking them if they were alright.

"Not us, don't worry about us!" Samantha shouted. "Furno! Help Furno!" She pointed up to the ongoing battle, and the orange Hero turned and sighted the conflict. Furno tried to block a laser blast, but one of the drones got behind him and struck him square in the back. Furno hit the ground and struggled to rise; he would not be able to defend against the next attacks.

But the orange Hero was already acting. It summoned two more green arrows and fit them into its bow and fired. Each arrow was aimed at a different drone; one was struck dead on, but the other was a near miss. That drone now turned its attention on the newcomer, and flew directly towards it, firing its lasers. The orange Hero calmly sidestepped to avoid the blast, and then fired one more arrow. It struck the drone dead on, causing it to explode.

"It did it!" Vicki exclaimed. "It won!"

Samantha and Erez rushed up to aid Furno, but the orange Hero was already there. It reached down to grasp Furno's hand and helped him up.

"Thanks for that assist," Furno said. "They nearly had me there."

The orange Hero responded in its odd language, and Furno nodded. "Yes, it's good to see you too," he said. "But we're still in qutek a situation. I'll need to get you caught up." He turned as he sighted Samantha and Erez. "You managed to find her, and just in time. I believe I owe you my thanks."

"Her?" Erez questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

Furno chuckled and gestured to the orange Hero. "Allow me to introduce you to one of my teammates: Nex."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Wow, these are amazing," Vicki said, gaping at Furno and Nex. "Are these robots? Did Erez design them? Where did they even come from? I didn't see them at all, but then it was like, poof, they're here!"

Furno glanced at Vicki. "This is the friend you mentioned?" he asked Samantha.

Samantha nodded. "Look, Vicki, there's a lot to this story, and we're still trying to figure some things out. But these are two… Heroes, I guess, from someplace far away. Erez and I have actually already met Furno here. And, the truth it, this hike was all about finding this second Hero here."

"Amazing," Vicki said, but she frowned suddenly. "But hey, why didn't you just tell me about this earlier? Why'd you lie to me?"

Samantha smiled meekly. "Well, we just didn't know the best way to say that we were looking for a giant robot lost in the mountains. It's not exactly a believable story."

"But I would've believed you," Vicki said. "Did you not trust me to know about this?"

"Oh, for crying out loud," Erez grumbled. "We didn't tell you because we think the government might be after these guys, and the less you knew, the safer you were. At least, that was the theory before those drones showed up."

"Right, right, the drones," Vicki said. She turned and bowed to Furno. "Thank you again for saving me from those."

"You're welcome," Furno said, nodding smugly. "All in a day's work for a Hero!"

"And thank you too!" Vicki said to Nex. She held out her hand. "I'm Vicki, it's nice to meet you."

Nex hesitated, and then reached out to grab Vicki's hand. Furno elbowed her first, and whispered, "Careful, they are fragile creatures. Don't squeeze too hard."

Nex nodded, and gently took Vicki's hand and shook it. Vicki grinned widely. "Wow, this is awesome. Can you speak too, Nex?"

Nex hesitated, and glanced away. Samantha frowned, and asked, "Does Nex not have a language chip installed?"

Furno grinned. "Oh yes she does, and by now it should be working, but she's a bit shy for a Hero." He nudged Nex, and said, "Go ahead, introduce yourself."

Nex paused, and then said, "Greetings. My name is Jules Nex, but I normally go by the codename Nex. I am a Hero of Senses, and a proud member of Beta Team of the Hero Factory."

"Jules?" Erez repeated. "Wait, does that mean it identifies as a girl? But it's a robot."

"I do identify as a female," Nex said. "Just as Furno identifies as a male. Although we do not have organic features that differentiate us, it is a cultural attribute that Hero Factory continues to abide by."

"Wait, does that mean you're not purely robotic?" Samantha asked. "What I got from Furno was that everybody from your world was robots."

"There are generally a higher percentage of mechanical elements in the average being than organics," Nex admitted. "But our civilization once evolved from purely organic lifeforms, such as yourselves. We still retain minimal organic tissues, located primarily within our helmets and in our Hero Cores."

"Wait, how did you know they were organic?" Furno asked. "It took me a while to figure that out."

"It is obvious from analyzing their bodies," Nex explained. "I have determined the organic makeup of their cells, and have detected only minimal technological additions to them, thus inferring that they are at a much earlier stage in their development than our people."

"Wait, you can tell that much just by looking at us?" Samantha asked, frowning.

"Indeed," Nex said. "I can also tell that the two of you are female, based on the presence of eggs within your bodies. The third is a male, as he is in possession of sperm which will be used to fertilize the eggs. But it appears that your bodies are still only partially developed, leading to my assumption that you are adolescents within your species."

Vicki blushed. "Wow, you can tell quite a lot."

"Did I say something offensive?" Nex wondered.

"It's just that the topic of… fertilization… is considered impolite in our society," Samantha explained.

"But reproduction is an essential part of an organic species' existence," Nex stated, baffled. "If you shy away from the subject, then how can you be properly informed of how to proceed with it?"

"It's just the way we do things," Samantha said.

"They have quite a few dos and don'ts in their culture," Furno put in. "They do have an extensive information network, although their individual ports are painfully slow to upload from. Not all the information is genuine, but from it you can gleam some of how to interact with them."

"I do indeed have much to learn," Nex admitted.

"But I do have some questions for you," Furno said. "You were able to summon your ranged weapons, and your senses are still at full capacity. How is that?"

"I don't know," Nex said. "Everything appears to be operating normally."

"But half of my functions are unresponsive," Furno said.

"Is it because you are missing your elemental crystal?" Nex asked.

"His elemental what?" Erez repeated.

"His elemental crystal, which he uses to derive his elemental powers from," Nex explained. She gestured to the small orange crystal in the center of her Hero Core. "My element is Senses. It allows me to detect many things based on sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste, among others. That is what allowed me to quickly identify your organic makeup."

"Senses is not an element," Erez said. "Elements are the fundamental atoms that build up everything in the universe, like Hygrogram and Carbon and such."

"Ah, I understand," Nex said. "The word is the same, but the concepts are different. In our case, the 'elements' we speak of are the source of our unique powers. Mine allows me to pick up on things in my surroundings. Furno's is more useful in the heat of battle, as it were."

"I know Furno's mentioned something about his element, but he's never used it," Samantha said.

"That would be because his elemental crystal of fire is missing," Nex said, gesturing to the empty slot in Furno's Hero Core. "Perhaps it got separated from you in the earlier battle?"

"That might explain it," Furno mused. "I did take a hit in the chest before going through the portal."

"Wait, that means Furno's elemental crystal could be anywhere," Erez said. "Man, it was already tough enough trying to find the other Hero Cores, and now it turns out there's another piece we're missing."

"I am confused," Nex said. "Why are you searching for Hero Cores?"

"It's a long story," Samantha said. She started to explain everything she, Erez, and Furno had pieced together so far. Both Vicki and Nex listened intently, occasionally asking clarification questions.

"And based on Erez's estimations, we thought a core landed around here," Samantha continued. "So we tricked Vicki… again, sorry about that… into driving us up here, and then hiked in to find you. Then we got attacked by the drones. It was blind luck that I was able to find Nex's Hero Core, although I wasn't able to summon her at first. It must've been when Erez threw it that it activated."

"Wait, that means I'm the one who activated Nex first!" Erez said.

"Yeah, that's how it seems," Samantha said. "Although I don't know why it didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I'm already connected to Furno."

"That could indeed be the case," Nex said. "I am still greatly surprised to find out that the miniaturization project has been applied to us, but some modifications were used to the original code. These humans are not likely suspects; I fear this is Von Nebula's doing."

"Who is Von Nebula?" Vicki asked. "Is he some big programming scientist robot from your world?"

"Yeah, Furno has mentioned his name a few times, but hasn't explained exactly who he is," Samantha said.

"Von Nebula is one of the greatest enemies we at Hero Factory have ever faced," Furno said darkly. "It's not a pleasant story."

"It started long before I was constructed," Nex said. "Before even Furno was initiated as a Hero. Von Ness was in the original wave of Heroes created by Hero Factory. But although he acted gallantly, he was also selfish. Soon that selfishness started to turn into greed."

"And he went over to the Dark Side?" Vicki exclaimed.

Nex blinked. "I do not understand? His armor was already rather dark, although he did eventually make modifications to it."

"He betrayed all that Hero Factory holds dear," Furno put in. "That's reason enough."

"Is it quite the sore subject?" Samantha asked.

"Our leader and Furno's mentor, Stormer, was great friends with Von Ness," Nex continued. "He was there when Von Ness turned. They had just captured a villain in the middle of a heist. But then Von Ness decided that he would rather collect the treasure himself. Stormer was forced to fight his former friend, and it resulted in an explosion."

"So Von Ness was killed?" Erez asked.

"He was damaged, but not dead," Furno said. "He joined the criminal underworld, rebuilt himself, and became a notorious criminal under the name Von Nebula. Because of his time as a Hero, he knew our secrets, and was able to counter our attempts to recapture him."

"Furno and Stormer have fought Von Nebula many times, but never managed to subdue him completely," Nex said. "Meanwhile, Von Nebula continued to research into ways to control the fabrics of the universe. He knew ways to alter optical images and even break into the minds of others. His work on black holes was quite remarkable, to be honest, except he used his learnings for the wrong reasons."

"We feared that he was behind the destruction of Makuhero City, but we didn't know for sure until we found him in the midst of it all," Furno said. "He had used his power over black holes to destabilize the planet, and he had larger goals in mind too. We fought him, but before we could claim victory, he opened the portal that brought us here."

"Except we found him in a research facility," Nex pointed out. "He could've been downloading the information about the miniaturization project, and somehow used it on us. And I don't think it was just a random portal he created. Which means it could've been part of his plan to send us to this planet, so that we're far out of his way."

"I'm pretty sure he followed us in," Furno stated. "And there were villains who were sucked through too." He frowned. "That's all the more reason to find the rest of the Heroes. We have some estimated locations for their Hero Cores, and since we managed to locate you, I think their accuracy is pretty high."

"Did you not just do a radiation search?" Nex asked.

"Um, no, not really," Erez said. "You see, I logged all the meteorite sightings and calculated a rough trajectory and…"

"What do you mean by radiation?" Samantha asked.

Nex tapped her goggles, and a new lens flipped down. "Most bots from our world give off a particular radiation," she said. "We can use it to track them from a distance or determine how long ago they were in an area. From what I have experienced in your world so far, nothing here gives off the same kind of radiation, leading me to assume that the sources of it here would be the remaining Hero Cores.""

"Wait, you're radioactive?" Vicki exclaimed. "Doesn't that mean we're getting radiation poisoning from just being around you?"

"Not all radiation is harmful," Erez pointed out. "Living organisms give off radiation too, although in smaller amounts. And we get radiation from the sun and electronics and all sorts of things. Most of it is on a level that's relatively harmless. But that's why you wear some protective clothing when you get x-rayed, because that's subjecting you to a higher than normal dose of radiation. So the radiation from the Heroes shouldn't be dangerous… I hope," he added.

Nex chuckled. "That is a fairly accurate scientific statement. And you are correct; our radiation is not harmful to organic lifeforms. But it is merely on a spectrum that is not used much in your world."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Samantha asked Furno.

"Because I didn't know," Furno said with a shrug. "I'm not exactly the scientist; that's Nex's specialty."

"Besides, Furno would not have a way to detect it, but I do," Nex said. "My visual spectrum allows me to see higher concentrations of the radiation. And I can use that to track down the other Hero Cores. Or, more specifically, Furno's elemental crystal."

"Wait, you know where my crystal is?" Furno asked.

"I believe I have detected its presence a short distance away," Nex said, pointing out over the hills.

Vicki glanced over and squinted. "But that's the direction of the forest fire. Even we can see the smoke from here." She gasped. "Oh no, is Furno's elemental crystal in the forest fire? It might get burned or damaged or something!"

"Furno's elemental crystal is not merely within the forest fire," Nex corrected. "Furno's crystal is the forest fire."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Samantha clutched tightly to Furno's neck. "I still don't think this is a good idea!" she shouted over the roar of the wind.

"It's the fastest route, and our best option," Furno replied.

Samantha was holding onto Furno's shoulder as he raced across the landscape. The forest fire had been many miles away from their previous position, and for Samantha, Erez, and Vicki, the hike would've taken hours. But Furno and Nex were better equipped for running long distances, even over difficult terrane, and they could make it over in as little as twenty minutes. However, Furno couldn't leave Samantha behind, so he had decided to use the only other option available; he would carry her as he ran across the landscape.

Samantha found the experience particularly terrifying. Hanging on to Furno was like riding a speeding race horse; if she slipped off him, she would get seriously hurt. Furno had a good grip on her, but all the same, Samantha didn't like putting her safety fully in the hands of someone else. But she trusted Furno enough not to drop her, and tried her best to choke back her fear.

However, she wasn't the only one riding on Furno. Vicki was being held in Furno's other arm, and she had a huge grin on her face. "This is so awesome!" she screamed into the wind. Erez, meanwhile, was being carried by Nex a short distance behind Furno. Like Samantha, Erez was not thrilled with this mode of transportation, but his fear was keeping his silent.

Furno leapt from rock to rock, sometimes covering a span of twenty feet in a single bound. But he started to slow down as he reached a spot where the grass had been charred, and eventually came to a stop and set down the two girls.

"That was epic!" Vicki said. "It was like the most wicked roller coaster ride ever, and then some. We have got to do that on the way back too."

"I honestly prefer to run on my own two feet," Samantha was wearily.

Nex stopped beside them and let down Erez. Samantha glanced at Erez, who was looking a little red. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, I just need to… to…" Erez started, but then he turned around and puked.

Nex looked startled by this. "Is he ill?" she asked. "I had noticed that his body temperature was starting to fluctuate, but I didn't realize your species grew sick so quickly."

"It's not an illness or anything," Samantha said. "Some of us just get a bit motion sick, especially after a wild ride like that."

"Yuck," Vicki commented. "Remind me not to invite you two to an amusement park."

"I'll be fine," Erez said, sitting down on the charred grass. "I just need to… get my bearings for a moment."

Samantha now looked up to take in their surroundings. They were on a section of hillside that had burned the previous night. The tall grass had been long and dry, so it didn't take much to light it up. However, although the fire had spread, it had also quickly burnt out and had since moved away from that area. In the distance, Samantha could see larger flames licking the trees on the adjacent ridge.

However, not everything had finished burning. Not far away was a large bonfire, with flames reaching ten feet into the air. But Samantha couldn't see what was fueling the fire, since all the vegetation around it had already been burned away.

"There it is," Nex said, gesturing to the tall flames. "Furno's elemental crystal."

"It's in the fire?" Vicki asked.

"It's actually producing the fire," Nex explained. "Without Furno to channel its elemental powers, it's releasing them into the surroundings."

"And in doing so it started this forest fire," Samantha concluded. "Except when the forest fire moved on, the crystal did not, so it's still making the flame, but there's nothing left for it to burn."

"Precisely," Nex said with a nod.

"Now the question is, how do I retrieve it?" Furno wondered.

"Very carefully," Nex said. "Until you reunite with the crystal, you will still be vulnerable to its flames."

"Would it be really bad if Furno got burned too much?" Vicki asked. "I mean, we can't exactly get him replacement parts down at the mall."

"Our armor includes self-repairing mechanisms," Furno said. "That is how I was able to recover from the lasers from earlier. But it still takes time."

"It is similar to how your bodies will repair cellular damage with time," Nex said. "It's a sort of healing process."

"So how does Furno get the crystal out of the bonfire without getting burnt, and what's to stop the crystal from burning him before he reconnects with it?" Vicki asked. "If it's constantly throwing off fire, then it's perpetually burning and there's never a chance to actually hold it without the flames and…"

"He will have to do it very quickly," Nex commented. "I predict that if he ran through the flames at top speed, he could grab the crystal and replace it back into his Hero Core with negligible fire damage. It would be five percent, minimum."

"And what happens if he slips up and doesn't grab the crystal?" Samantha asked.

Nex shrugged. "More damage. Spending an extended period of time in the flames would increase damage to twenty percent, and would prevent him from making another attempt until he had completely recovered."

"I just need to time it just right," Furno said, flexing his arms. "No big deal."

Nex suddenly spun her head around. "We've got company," she said, focusing her lenses.

"Oh, is it the firefighters?" Vicki asked. "Are there any really hot firemen with them? I mean, this might be an odd situation to explain to them, but they can let me feel their muscles and…"

"There are humans trying to contain the forest fire, but they are well removed from our position," Nex responded. "However, there is an incoming bot."

"More drones," Samantha groaned. "Why do they keep attacking us?"

"If it's more drones, then Nex can easily shoot them out of the sky," Furno said. "And I can do the same thing once I get my elemental powers back."

"It is not another drone," Nex said. "It is… I can't believe this, it's…" She stopped and her eyes went wide. "Evasive action suggested!"

"Evasive?" Vicki asked. "But I don't even see anything yet."

But then they sighted the incoming projectile. A ten foot large boulder had been hurled through the air, and it was aimed right at them. Furno quickly snatched up Samantha and Vicki and ran for cover, while Nex grabbed onto Erez. They managed to evade the boulder as it hit the ground, but it shattered into a mission pieces and caused the very ground to shake.

Furno activated his shield and used it to shelter the two girls from the rocky debris. "Whoever threw that was quite strong," he said. "Stronger than any of your Earth robots."

"That wasn't a local bot," Nex said, setting Erez down. "It's an old foe from our world."

Samantha turned and saw the being walk into view over the hillside. He was easily eight feet tall, and his skin seemed to be made of solid rock. His left arm appeared very similar to Furno's; it was well armored and ended in a metal hand. But the right arm was bulked up, wider than Samantha's entire body, and ended with a clawed hand the size of a wheelbarrow. It had a short head with a wide jaw and beady eyes, which were focused on the two Heroes.

"I recognize him," Furno said, going into a fighting stance. "We battled him earlier; he was one of Von Nebula's henchmen."

"He's a criminal known as Bruizer," Nex explained. She summoned her bow and fired an energy arrow at him. The arrow struck Bruizer in the chest and exploded, but he didn't flinch at all.

Nex frowned. "And if I remember correctly, he has nearly impenetrable armor and mighty strength."

"So he's a brawler," Furno said. "Your ranged weapons won't do much to him."

"Yes, but it still begs the question," Nex said. "What is he doing here?"

Bruizer let out a guttural roar and charged towards their group. Furno took note of this and raced forward to meet him. "The humans won't stand a chance," he said. "Lead him away from them!"

Bruizer reached Furno and swung his muscular arm at him, hoping to clobber him in one swing. But Furno was already ducking beneath it, and drew back his fist and delivered a punch to Bruizer's torso. However, blow didn't seem to faze Bruizer. He swung again as Furno retreated and caught him at a glancing blow. Furno hit the ground hard, and Bruizer stepped forward, ready to pound him.

Sudden, more energy arrows struck him, but this time in the head. Bruizer roared out, temporarily blinded by the energy blasts. Meanwhile, Nex darted forward and helped Furno up.

"Hand to hand combat won't do much against him," Nex said. "You need your elemental powers!"

"I can't get my crystal in the middle of a fight!" Furno protested.

"You go after it, and I'll fight back Bruizer," Nex said.

"But you don't have any abilities that can take him down!" Furno said.

"I don't need to take him down," Nex said. "I just need to avoid getting hit. Now go!"

Bruizer had recovered, and he charged Nex again. She ducked beneath his swung and darted to the side. Bruizer turned to follow her, but he was slow on the turn. By the time he was facing her, Nex had fired another arrow, which burst in his face. Roaring in frustration, Bruiser charged again.

Meanwhile, Samantha, Erez, and Vicki had ducked beneath another rocky outcropping and watched as the battle commenced. Samantha winced as Bruizer threw his fist at Nex, but just missed her. He hit the ground, and the entire hillside trembled.

"We need to help her!" Vicki said. "You heard Furno; Nex doesn't have a way to beat this guy."

"Furno also said that we didn't stand a chance either," Erez said. "I think it's best if we just stay put."

Samantha didn't particularly like hiding, but she knew that she couldn't stand up to the monster that was Bruizer. However, wheels in her head started to spin. "Just how did he get here?" she asked.

"He probably walked," Erez said. "I don't think many things would try to get in his way."

"No, I mean, if he had been walking here, then Nex would've sighted him sooner," Samantha said. "But it's like he just happened to pop up out of nowhere and attack."

"Wait, that's kind of like what happened with Furno earlier," Vicki said.

"Exactly," Samantha said. "He appeared because I summoned him. And that could mean…"

"Someone also summon Bruizer!" Erez finished. "Maybe he was also miniaturized like Furno and Nex."

"And that could mean someone else is able to control him," Samantha finished. "And that person might be the one behind those drone attacks."

"And if Bruizer also has a limited range from his masters, then whoever that is should be nearby," Vicki said.

Samantha pushed herself up and left her hiding spot. "I'm going to look for him."

"But Samantha…" Erez started.

"I'm not going to get involved in that fight," Samantha said. "I'm just going to sneak around a bit. You two keep an eye out from here for anything suspicious too."

As Samantha left her hiding spot, Nex continued to engage with Bruiser. With each miss, Bruizer got more enraged, but his anger seemed to fuel his power, as each strike was more powerful than the last. Nex was using all her agility just to stay one step ahead of her foe.

But she couldn't keep it up. Bruizer's next swing caught her at a glancing blow, and it caused Nex to misstep and fall to the ground. She turned to get up, but Bruizer was already on top of her, and pinned her down with his foot.

Nex could feel her armor starting to crush, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She aimed her bow and fired at Bruizer point blank. However, Bruizer was expecting this, and used his muscular arm to shield his face and deflect her energy arrow. Annoyed, he lifted his powerful arm up in the air and brought it down hard on Nex's face. The crunch of metal echoes across the hillside.

"Nex!" Erez shouted. He started to rush from his hiding spot, but Vicki pulled him down. From the distance, they could see Nex's mangled body. But then something started to happen, and Nex's limbs started to collapse in. After a few moments, Nex had deactivated back into her Hero Core.

"I get it!" Vicki whispered. "When they sustain too much damage, they revert back into their storage mode."

"Except now nothing's stopping Bruizer from crushing her core under his foot!" Erez said.

That was indeed Bruizer's next move, as he lifted his foot up to smash the Hero Core. But he was distracted as a red blur charged forward. Furno struck Bruiser in the side, forcing him back. But Bruizer snarled and prepared to continue the fight.

Furno, however, merely grinned. He gestured to the newly placed red crystal in his Hero Core. "Do you know what this means, rock head?"

Bruizer didn't answer, but merely swung his fist again. Furno ducked beneath it and then activated his blaster arm. "It means I have my elemental fire back," he said. "And that you're in for a world of hurt."

Furno tried to fire his blaster point blank, but nothing happened. "Oh come on, is this still not working?" Furno complained, but then ducked down as Bruizer took another swing. "I guess my elemental powers haven't quite charged up enough yet for that. Let's try something else."

Furno held out his right arm, and his armor folded out and extended into a long blade. With a flick of his wrist, Furno detached the sword from his arm and grabbed the hilt in midair. He pointed his weapon at Bruiser and grinned. "Let's see how you do at sword play."

Again, Bruizer was the first to charge. Furno flicked his blade, slicing into Bruizer's armor. Or at least that was his intention, but Bruizer's armor was too rugged and tough, and Furno's blade hardly did any damage. Bruizer turned around for a second round, and Furno backed up out of range.

"I'm going to need a little something extra if I want my blade to work on him," Furno said, concentrating. "I hope this works."

Bruizer was about to charge, but hesitated. Furno's sword was starting to glow, and then sudden it burst into flames, leaving the blade red hot. Furno's grin widened at the sight of his activated fire powers. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said.

Bruizer got over his surprise and darted forward, but Furno slashed at him. This time, the super-heated blade cut deep, and Bruiser roared in pain and stepped back. Furno, however, pressed forward, swinging at the monster.

Out of the corner of her eye, Samantha saw that the fight had turned. She had been darting from rock to rock in an effort to keep hidden from Bruizer, but was also on the lookout for his potential master. Then, as she crept around one rock, she saw him, also monitoring the fight from behind the shelter of some boulders. He was a muscular man himself and quite tall. He had dark brown hair and long sideburns, and was currently wearing dark sunglasses. He was gazing over the rock, watching the ongoing fight. But now that Bruizer was starting to lose, he frowned.

Samantha was about to go and confront him; he looked like a powerful man, but she was skilled in martial arts, and knew how to handle opponents who were stronger than her. But then she caught a glimpse of metal on his belt; the man had a gun! Samantha knew she didn't stand a chance in a gunfight. But as she turned to leave, her foot slipped and sent a small cascade of rocks down the hill. The sound caught the man's attention, and he sighted Samantha just as she ducked away.

Her heart beating, Samantha headed to the next outcropping of rocks, hoping to put some distance between her and the man. But he was already up and running towards her. He turned around the rocks and had a clear view of her. She glanced back and saw that he was already leveling his gun to fire.

But his attention was diverted and he dashed aside as Bruizer crashed into the ground next to him. Bruiser had tried to ram into Furno, but Furno had tripped him and sent him sprawling, and he landed hard beside his master.

"Is that the best you've got?" Furno taunted as Bruizer got back to his feet. "You know, I could fight you all day if you want. Or I can beat you here and now, if that's what you prefer."

Bruizer was about to attack Furno again, but then out of the corner of his eye he sighted Samantha. He turned and charged towards her. Samantha's adrenaline was already flowing from the encounter with the man, but even as she turned to run she knew it was futile.

However, she still had help. Bruizer had made a mistake by turning his back on Furno, and the Hero threw his sword through the air and embedded it in Bruizer's muscular arm. Bruizer yelped out in pain and hit the ground hard, causing yet another mighty rumble.

"What are you even doing out here?" Furno demanded, racing towards Samantha. "I told you to take cover."

"Look out!" Samantha shouted. The man from earlier was back on his feet, and he aimed his pistol at Furno's head and fired. Furno drew up his shield just in time and used it to deflect the bullets.

"Enemies are just popping up everywhere," he said. "I think it's time to turn the heat up a bit and see how much of a fight they really like."

But he glanced at Samantha, and saw she was trembling with fear. In addition to that, Nex was down, and Bruiser was getting back up again. As much as Furno loved a fight, he had to admit that the odds weren't great for them.

"Get Nex's core and get to the others," Furno said to Samantha out of the corner of his mouth. "We're going to make a quick retreat."

"But what about them?" Samantha asked, gesturing to Bruizer and the man who was reloading his gun.

"Just one last scrimmage," Furno said. "I need to retrieve my sword, after all."

As Samantha took off, Furno charged Bruizer. Bruizer had just managed to rip out Furno's sword from his armor, and was unprepared for the Hero's attack. Furno swung his fist, and flames engulfed his hand, and he slammed it into Bruizer's head. Bruizer took the blow hard, and teetered backwards, forcing the man to flee to avoid getting crushed again. Even as Bruizer hit the ground, Furno retrieved his weapon and stowed it away. He turned and raced back to the three humans.

"I got the core," Samantha said, standing next to Erez and Vicki. "Now what are…"

Furno cut her off as he grabbed her around the waist with one hand and snatched up Vicki and Erez with his other. He glanced back to see that Bruizer was back up and charging, but Furno leapt off the hillside, hitting the ground twenty feet below and then pushing forward. Bruizer tried to follow, but he was unable to keep up with Furno's pace, and soon lost him across the hillside.

Angered, Bruizer slammed his fist into the ground, causing the rock he was on to crack severely. But he paused as he heard the man approach from behind.

"Keep your anger in check, beast," he said. "I think it's time for you to return to an optimal size."

Bruizer obediently nodded, and then started shrinking. After a few moments, his bulky form had been condensed down into a small, gunmetal object. It was almost identical to a Hero Core, only instead of an H, it was adorned with a large V.

The man picked up Bruizer's core and pocketed it. Then he pulled out a satellite phone and activated it. "Mazhar here," he reported in. "I have a bit of unfortunate news for you."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was nearly dusk by the time they neared the trailhead. Furno had done his best to get them a good distance away from Bruizer earlier, but it was a hap hazardous way to travel. Eventually, he had set the three kids down and they had continued the rest of their journey on foot.

Samantha groaned as she watched the sun set in the distance. "Looks like I'm going to be breaking curfew tonight," she said. "I hope my mom doesn't decide to check in on me."

"That's your big concern?" Erez asked. "We've befriended alien robots and have been attacked by high tech drones and a sort of rock monster, and that's what you're worried about?"

"How does you mom even expect to enforce a curfew when she's away for a month?" Vicki asked.

"It's mostly a matter of trust," Samantha said. "I told her that I'd abide by the curfew, and I feel obligated to do so. But she's always been a little over cautious with me, especially after my dad passed, so I try to put up with it."

"Well, we can stop at my house tonight," Vicki said. "My parents are also gone for a couple of days, and they didn't give me any restrictions like a curfew or how many friends I can have over or how loud of music I can play." She paused. "My dad did lock the liqueur cabinet, so I guess they did take a few precautions."

"Do we even want to go home tonight?" Erez asked. "Somebody must also know how to track these Heroes, because we've been attacked twice today. What's to say they won't attack us at our homes, and potentially put other people at risk?"

"Well, we have Furno and Nex to protect us," Vicki said, gesturing to the red robot walking next to her. "They can handle things for us, right?"

"Except we don't have Nex," Erez said, holding up her Hero Core. "She got her face bashed in while trying to protect us. She might never be coming back."

"Would Nex be able to recover from that blow?" Samantha asked Furno.

Furno shrugged somberly. "We can repair most moderate damage to ourselves, given time. However, our cores and our heads are some of our most vulnerable spots. Our helmets are quite tough in order to protect us, but Bruizer must have dealt quite a lot of damage to Nex, potentially compromising her helmet."

"So will Nex be okay?" Vicki asked.

"My core processors tell me that she should still be able to recover," Furno said. "Nex is a Hero, so she's made of tough stuff too, and she won't go down so easily. But it will take time."

"But she's been deactivated and shrunk back into her core," Erez pointed out. "Won't that disrupt the recovery process?"

"On the contrary, it might speed it up," Furno said. "One of the initial benefits of the miniaturization projects was that repair time would shorten while in the dormant mode, so the Hero would be able to recover from any damage on the way back from a mission. But I don't know if that carried over into whatever tainted version of the program we were given, so I have no way to be sure."

"But if we reactivated Nex now, then she could at least come back and have a chance to recover normally," Samantha pointed out.

Furno nodded. "That would be a prudent course of action. However, I would suggest doing so once we have arrived in a more secure location, as Nex will not be able to travel freely while recovering."

"Sounds fair," Samantha said.

"Great, then late night robot party at my house!" Vicki exclaimed. "Then we can celebrate Nex's recovery and eat popcorn and paint our nails and…"

They were finally approaching the parking lot for the hiking trail as the sun dipped below the horizon, and Samantha could now see Vicki's car. But, strangely, there were a couple of other vans parked next to it. She frowned, and said, "Are there other people out here also on a late afternoon hike?"

Furno glanced around, suddenly cautious. "I think I may have heard something behind us," he said. "We should proceed with caution and…"

Suddenly, bright lights lit up around the four of them, temporarily blinding them. Samantha held up her hand to shield her eyes, and noted that there were lights coming from all directions. As her eyes began to adjust, she realized each light represented a person. And that the lights were on the ends of gun barrels.

"Put your hands in the air," a voice commanded over a loud speaker. "Put down any weapons and surrender."

Furno glared angrily at the newcomers, but Samantha, Erez, and Vicki instantly threw their hands up in the air. "What's going on here?" Vicki asked. "Who are you people?"

"Command your robot to deactivate," the voice said.

Samantha squinted, trying to get a better look at the people confronting them. Somehow they had been able to surround them as they approached the parking lot, which meant that they had also been expecting them. From their equipment and uniforms, they seemed to be from the military, but it looked different from what Samantha had seen in television and movies.

"Who the heck are you?" she demanded. "Why should we listen to you?"

"I am Captain Ricardo of the United States Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce," the voice over the loudspeaker said. Samantha could now see the man standing behind the front line of gunmen, dress in full uniform. "You will surrender your Hero Cores immediately or we will open fire."

"Look, there's no need for any violence," Erez said, holding up Nex's Hero Core. "I'll just set this down and we can talk this over, okay."

"Deactivate your robot," Captain Ricardo repeated. "You have five seconds to comply."

"Right, right!" Samantha said, turning to Furno. But there was a determination in her eye; she was not ready to back down to mysterious men who popped out of the darkness, not after the day she'd been through. She looked Furno in the eye and said, "Do your thing."

"Gladly," Furno said. With a flick of his hand, he threw a burst of fire at the men on the front line, causing them to fall back. The men behind them opened fire, but Furno had already activated his shield and used it to block the kids from the bullets. As the first round of shots ended, Furno threw more fire at them, effectively forming a circle of flames around them. But there was still a small opening, and Samantha dashed towards it, grabbing Erez's arm.

"Quick, we need to make a run for it!" she said. But suddenly Erez went limp in her hands and fell to the ground. She turned to see that he had some sort of tranquillizer dart embedded in his neck. She glanced over at Vicki just in time to see her get struck with a dart too, and she also fell over. There was a sniper somewhere in the darkness who had just taken down both of Samantha's friends. Upon realizing this, Samantha instantly ducked down, and a third tranquillizer dart just missed her.

"Run!" Furno shouted to her, as he deflected more bullets. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"But Erez and Vicki…" Samantha started.

"RUN!" Furno repeated. Samantha knew she couldn't help them now, and although it broke her heart to do so, she needed to escape too. Tears already forming in her eyes, she rushed through the break in the flames and disappeared into the darkness.

With Samantha out of the way, Furno jumped into the crowd of soldiers. They drew back their guns, unable to fire at such close range, but before they could switch tactics, Furno shoved them down with his shield, sending them sprawling. More men came up behind him and opened fire. But their bullets ricocheted off Furno's metal armor, doing only minimal damage. However, Furno couldn't risk one of the bullets bouncing off him and striking Erez or Vicki, so he threw another blast of fire at the gunmen.

"Cease your attack!" Furno heard Captain Ricardo shout. "Surrender now!"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Furno said, pushing forward towards Ricardo. "Maybe if I shut you down, then the rest of these people will cease their attacks!"

Captain Ricardo backed up, and said, "Reinforcements requested. Subject is engaging."

"Engage this," Furno growled. He rushed up to one of the men, who continued to fire at him even at point blank. But Furno grabbed the gun right out of his hands and flung it off into the darkness. The man stepped back and reached to draw another weapon, but Furno shoved him away before he could rearm himself.

More men rushed to engage Furno, and he retaliated. However, he was also holding back. He knew that he could crush their human bodies with ease, but as a Hero his goal was to detain his enemies rather than terminate them. He didn't want to be the one to kill these human soldiers. But they were determined all the same, and he was having trouble keeping them back.

Suddenly, the soldiers ceased fire and backed away from Furno, but something landed behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see another large robot facing him. He was able to attack, but then he recognized the emerald armor and the curved fins on the helmet. It was another Hero.

"Breez, it's good to see you," Furno said. "You showed up just in the nick of time too! Help me subdue these human soldiers!"

However, the green Hero did not move to help Furno, but rather pointed her bladed weapon at him. "Surrender now, Furno," she said.

"What?" Furno yelped, caught by surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"Surrender to the proper authorities now," Breez said again. "If you do not comply, I will be obliged to take more forceful measures."

"You're in cahoots with these people?" Furno asked. "Look, Breez, we're on the same side here, so let's just settle down and figure out this misunderstanding."

"I said surrender!" Breez snapped. She threw her weapon, a sharp boomerang, at Furno, who pulled up his shield just in time to deflect it. The boomerang circled around and flew back into Breez's outreached hand.

"Heroes don't surrender," Furno said, going into a fighting stance. "You should know that."

"Always the reckless one, aren't you, Furno," Breez chided. "But you need to recognize the proper authorities and turn yourself over to them."

"I already answer to an authority," Furno said. "And it was your people who attacked her first." With that, he summoned his sword and ignited the flames around it, and charged towards Breez.

Breez drew up her boomerang and used it to parry Furno's attack. Furno pressed forward, swinging and thrusting his weapon, but Breez continued to block his blade with ease. "As always, you lack discipline," Breez said.

"One thing I don't lack is determination!" Furno shouted, throwing a wide swing which forced Breez's boomerang up. "Also, I don't lack elemental powers," he added, as he pointed his left hand at Breez's unprotected torso and fired a blast of flames.

The blast knocked Breez back ten feet, but she quickly leapt back up. "Was that supposed to impress me?" she asked dully. "Then it's my turn."

She held out her hand, and suddenly the night winds started to howl. Furno stood steadily in the growing wind, while Captain Ricardo and the other soldiers retreated. The wind started spinning in a circle, forming a funnel cloud. To Furno's surprise, the funnel was sucking the oxygen out of the area, and his fire dissipated.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, Breez pointed her weapon at him, and suddenly a condensed blast of air struck Furno in the chest, knocking his sword from his grasp and throwing him to the ground. He tried to get back to his feet, but then he got struck by Breez's boomerang, which brought him down again.

"That's won't do me in," Furno grunted, pushing up. "A Hero will never give up."

"Yes, but sometimes a Hero will lose," Breez said, running forward. "And tonight, that Hero is not me."

She jumped up into a high kick and struck Furno in the head with devastating force. Furno hit the ground hard and started deactivating back into his Hero Core. Breez nodded approvingly and stowed away her boomerang.

"Good job," Captain Ricardo said, as he walked over and reached down to pick up Furno's Hero Core. "However, one of the kids got away. We'll need to track her down."

"Don't be concerned," Breez said, turning away. "Lieutenant Yolanda is dealing with that."

Meanwhile, Samantha was running through the growing darkness. There had been a sparse forest next to the parking lot, and she had rushed into it for cover. Behind her, she could see flashes of lights as some of the soldiers tried to pursue her. But her adrenaline was pumping again, and Samantha was a skilled runner, so she was able to distance herself from the soldiers who were laden down with heavy gear.

Yet tears were clouding her eyes. Samantha knew she was abandoning her friends, and for what? Even if she escaped, what could she do to help them? They could already be dead, and if so, them the blame was on her for getting them involved in the first place.

Behind her, she could hear Furno battling the soldiers as blasts of fire and gunshots filled the air. But suddenly, there was a great howling of wind, and Samantha glanced back nervously. Vaguely, she saw what appeared to be a tornado forming over the parking lot, but then it dissipated and all went quiet.

"What just happened…?" Samantha wondered out loud, but then she heard the crunch of boots ahead of her. She turned just in time to see a soldier dart forward and try to tackle her.

Samantha quickly spun on her heel and avoided the soldier, who stumbled upon missing her mark. Angered, Samantha lashed out, delivering a kick to the back of the soldier's leg. The soldier grimaced from the blow, but still stood up and turned. Although it was dark out, Samantha could see that her attacker was actually a woman.

But her sorrow and fear were now giving way to wrath, and Samantha was eager to fight back. Before the woman could recover, Samantha threw her fists at her. Except the woman had recovered, and she expertly parried Samantha's blows. Then she lashed out on her own with sharp jabs, which Samantha managed to block with her arms, but the hits were still painful.

The woman drew back, so Samantha took her chance and threw a powerful punch at the woman's gut. However, the woman sidestepped and grabbed Samantha's outstretched arm. Before Samantha knew what was happening, the woman pulled her down and flung her into a nearby tree. The collision left Samantha's head spinning, but she now realized that this woman was also skilled in some form of martial arts, and was much better at it than she was.

But Samantha's anger hadn't dissipated, and she charged back in to attack. The woman tried to block her, but Samantha still landed a few blows. As the woman backed up, she hit a root and stumbled. Samantha used this as a chance to swing her leg up and caught the woman in the side, knocking her down.

But before Samantha could celebrate her victory, the woman was back up again, and charged directly at Samantha. She tackled her full on, bringing both of them to the ground. But as they hit, the woman had wrapped her arms around Samantha and got her in a sleeper hold. Samantha tried to push her off, but the woman's grip was too strong, and she applied more pressure on her hold.

And then Samantha passed out, and her vision went dark.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Samantha awoke in a cold, brightly lit room. She groaned, as her entire body ached all over. As she opened her eyes, she saw that she had been propped up against the wall, and that she was also not alone.

"Samantha!" Vicki cried, kneeling down next to her. "You're awake! I was worried you might not come to!"

"What… happened?" Samantha asked, trying to get up. There were vague memories swimming through her head, but her thoughts were still muddled. However, what she did remember last was that Vicki and Erez had been in trouble. But now they were next to her, very much alive.

However, they were not well. "We were captured," Erez explained. "They hit us with tranquilizer darts, it seems." He rubbed the sore on his neck where he had been struck. "We woke up about an hour ago. But it looks like they roughed you up a bit more than us, so it took you longer to come around."

"Wait, who did this?" Samantha asked.

Vicki shrugged. "We don't know. We haven't seen anybody since we woke up. It was probably those military guys from earlier."

"Where are we?" Samantha said, trying to look around. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Where's Furno?"

"He's not here," Erez said darkly. "Neither is Nex. As for where here is… well, we don't have the slightest clue."

Samantha looked around. They were in a small room, with steel walls on the sides. There was a single bed slab in the corner, as well as a sink and toilet. In the center of the room was a table with a couple of chairs, and on the ceiling was a row of bright, florescent lights. But that was it; the rest of the room was featureless. The only other thing was the steel door on the far side, which was locked tight.

"This is a prison cell," Samantha said, gulping. "They captured us."

"That seems to be the gist of things," Vicki said. "And they have clearly violated our rights. They have not told us what we are charged with or given us access to a lawyer or anything. They're holding us without right cause!"

"That's assuming that they actually are with the government and abide by such rules," Erez pointed out. "If they were also behind those drones, then they might not answer to anybody."

"So what do we do now?" Samantha asked.

"Wait, I guess," Vicki said with a frown.

"Great," Samantha said sarcastically, leaning back against the wall. She was still feeling a bit woozy from the earlier fight, but that wasn't the only thing. "Oh man, I'm hungry," she complained. "I haven't had a good meal since breakfast."

"I know, our hiking snacks didn't really count as a meal," Vicki said. "On the other hand, with all the running we've been doing today, we must have burned a ton of calories."

Suddenly, the far door opened, and Vicki and Erez both yelped out. Samantha, however, went into a fighting stance and eyed the woman who entered. She was middle-aged but still appeared to be in excellent shape, and had short brown hair. However, Samantha recognized her silhouette, and narrowed her eyes. "You were the one from earlier!" she snarled.

The woman turned a stern gaze onto them. "Take a seat," she commanded.

"Just who the hell are you?" Samantha demanded. "You come and beat us up and imprison us, and what gives you the right?"

Vicki also summed her courage and stepped forward. "We are being unlawfully held against our will," she said. "You will tell us what crime we have been charged with or we will sue you for unlawful imprisonment in a court of law!"

"I said, take a seat," the woman repeated, slamming the stack of paperwork she was carrying down on the table. Startled, Erez and Vicki quickly sat down in two of the small chairs next to the table. But Samantha stood her ground, and stared into the woman's eyes.

"Answer my friend's question," she said.

"Sit down, Miss Peregrine," the woman said, narrowing her eyes as she stared down at her.

Samantha didn't even flinch at the sound of her name, but her heart did skip a beat. "I will after you answer," she said.

The woman broke off her gazed and sighed. "Teenagers," she grumbled. "Okay, you want to know why we're holding you. It's because, under the Patriot Act, we reserve the right of indefinite detentions for individuals deemed to be a risk to national security."

"Damn, she invoked the Patriot Act," Vicki grumbled. "Talk about a cheap move. Stupid act."

"Wait, you think we're a risk to national security?" Samantha asked.

"That's what we're about to go over," the woman said. "Now, Miss Peregrine, please take a seat."

Reluctantly, Samantha grabbed a chair next to her friends, and the woman sat on the opposite end of the table from them. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

"We know a lot about you, Samantha Peregrine," the woman said. "You're Latino, a seventeen year old student born and raised in the State of California. Your mother works in a government sponsored research facility; your father is ten years deceased. You have trained in gymnastics and martial arts, and have a high school record of getting in fights. Your blood type is A Positive."

Samantha blinked, taken back by the onslaught of information. "How do you…" she started. "Who are you people?"

"We have not been properly introduced," the woman said. "I am Lieutenant Carol Yolanda of the United States Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce. We are a specialized branch of the United States military, and have access to all government records, which we used to identify you."

"You are the military," Erez said, breathing hard. "You were after Furno and the others. And now you're imprisoning us as terrorists." He started to shake and gasp, and began to turn pale.

Both Samantha and Vicki turned to him in fright, but Yolanda was unmoved. "You are not currently thought of as terrorists," she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a packet of pills and a bottle of water. "This is your medication. You are overdue for your evening dose."

"What are you talking about?" Samantha asked, but Erez gratefully accepted the medication and gulped down a pill with a mouthful of water. Samantha turned back to Yolanda for an explanation.

"Erez Beacan, fifteen," Yolanda stated. "Extremely intelligent, on our hacker watch list. Has been diagnosed with sever social anxiety, takes medication regularly to keep it in check."

"Erez doesn't have an anxiety problem," Samantha shot back. "He's just shy."

"It's something about him that he apparently has never informed you about," Yolanda said. "Records indicate he was diagnosed following a traumatic event five years ago. Ever since then, he has avoided crowded public places, and can only attend school thanks to his medication, where even then he is still closed off to others."

Samantha tried to protest, but no words came to her. Vicki, meanwhile, reached over and gave Erez a side hug. "I'm sorry, I never knew," she said.

"It's… okay," Erez said, starting to calm down. "It's true, it's just not something I… I want advertised around." He took a deep breath and focused on Yolanda. "You mentioned I was on a list of hackers? I've never hacked into anything significant."

"But you have hacked into enough social media accounts to get the government's attention," Yolanda replied. "Do not fret; the list is often used to seek out talented individuals for recruitment later in life."

"And what about me?" Vicki asked. "What digs do you have on me?"

Yolanda paused to consider her. "Vicki Kesler. Also seventeen, Caucasian. Two parents, both lawyers. Very talkative and often disruptive. Gets excellent grades, familiar with four languages. Has received several complaints for attending parties, including one where underage drinking was involved, although you somehow talked your way out of trouble."

Vicki gave a weak grin. "Impressive. But outdated; I can now speak five languages. I began learning Japanese last spring, and have a pretty good grasp on it."

"Indeed," Yolanda said. "I shall see that it gets added to our records."

"Enough about this," Erez said. "Let's speak about the elephant in the room. The Heroes. What do you want with them?"

"The medication is kicking in," Yolanda said approvingly. "Very well. Our agency has become aware of the presence of the Heroes, and it is our responsibility to contain them."

"Contain them?" Samantha said. "Do you know anything about them at all? They're actually in a lot of trouble."

"Regardless, they have incredible powers that could pose a huge risk to national security," Yolanda said.

"Wait, your agency name, it's Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce," Erez said. "It's not about protection for them, but protection against them. You're an organization meant to stop alien invasions!"

"In layman's terms, that is correct," Yolanda admitted. "There are huge risks associated with extraterrestrial contacts, from communication misunderstandings to…"

"Deadly biological contaminants," Erez finished. "Yes, I'm aware of the theories. But you're saying this organization is a real thing?"

"Wait, so you're like the Men in Black?" Vicki asked. "Or Woman in Black?"

"Our taskforce is not as… extravagant as those fictional examples," Yolanda said. "We monitor and investigate instances that could indicate other worldly life is visiting our planet. But the recent arrival of these Heroes has thrown us into overdrive. As such, we must take every precaution…"

"Bullshit," Samantha snapped. "You sent drones after us and they tried to kill us. Is that your idea of a cover up?"

"Drones?" Yolanda repeated, blinking. "I assure you, our first contact with you was in the mountains this evening. We have not sent drones after you, although…"

"But you're treating these Heroes like potential invaders!" Samantha continued. "Furno may be a bit bigheaded, but he has always done his best to protect me and my friends from danger. He is not here to take over the world, so stop treating him like a threat when you don't even know him!"

"I am more aware of the situation than you realize," Yolanda said dryly. "And my caution is not without cause. Besides, I do know of the Heroes." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver Hero Core.

Samantha jumped to her feet and tried to grab the core from Yolanda. "That's Furno, isn't it? Give it back!"

Yolanda pulled the core from Samantha's reach. "This is not the one you refer to as Furno," she said.

"Is it Nex?" Erez asked hopefully.

"Nor is it Nex," Yolanda said. "Allow me a demonstration, to perhaps prove that we are not on opposite sides after all." She pressed the center of her core, which immediately turned red. It expanded out, producing a slender Hero covered in green armor, with various fins attached to the side. Moments later, a new robotic Hero stood behind Yolanda.

"Miss Peregrine, Mr. Beacan, Miss Kesler," she said. "I would like to introduce you to Natalie Breez."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Breez?" Erez repeated, staring in awe at the new Hero. "Are you also from Hero Factory?"

"Affirmative," Breez said. "I am a member of Alpha Team, elemental Hero of Air. How do you know of Hero Factory?"

"We heard about it from Furno and Nex," Erez said, but his voice faltered under the stern look of Breez.

"You are Furno's master?" Breez demanded.

"No… no, I think I'm the one who activated Nex," Erez stuttered.

"I'm the one who activated Furno," Samantha said. "He also said he was on the Alpha Team. Did you know him?"

"We were teammates, yes," Breez said. She glanced down at Yolanda. "That was the master Furno was referring to? This is a mere child."

"I am not a mere child," Samantha snapped. "Now where is Furno?"

"She does a similar temper," Breez added.

"We have Furno and Nex's Hero Cores in holding," Yolanda said. "But before we return them to you, I want to know what your intentions for using the Heroes are."

"I wasn't using Furno for anything," Samantha said. "He appeared after damaging my garage, and then saved me from a drone. But he was in just as much need of help as I was."

"How so?" Yolanda pushed.

"He… he said he had been separated from his team," Samantha finished. "And he wanted to locate them."

"And how did you locate the second Hero Core?" Yolanda questioned. "The radiation tracking technology is quite expensive and hard to come by, so how did you come to possess it?"

"We actually didn't use the radiation trick at first," Erez said. "We tracked down Nex via meteorite sightings."

Yolanda paused, and shared a look with Breez. "Please go on," she said, genuinely curious.

Erez took a deep breath and continued on with his story, explaining how he and Samantha had teamed up and located Nex. He went on to tell of how Vicki had driven them into the mountains, how they had been attacked by the drones, and then recovered Nex. Then he told of how they located Furno's elemental crystal and fought off Bruizer.

"Very intriguing," Yolanda said, leaning back in her seat. "You accomplished quite a lot on your own."

"Yes, but Nex paid the ultimate price for it," Erez said, his voice breaking. "I don't even know if she managed to recover."

"She should be fine," Breez said. "Given the amount of time she has spent within her core, her repairs should be complete by now."

"Does that mean I can see her again?" Erez asked, expectedly.

"We will get to that soon enough," Yolanda said. "But your story also confirms what we have already suspected; there are other parties out there attempting to recover the Hero Cores. And they are not all as innocent as you." She paused. "That is why we have gone to such extremes to detain you. We cannot take any risks when it comes to the masters of these Heroes."

"What do you know of these third parties?" Samantha asked. "There have been three attempts on my life in the last twenty four hours, and I know humans are behind most of them."

"Let me start at the beginning," Yolanda said. "Last night, we became aware of a certain number of objects entering our atmosphere. Space debris is a common occurrence, but our recordings indicated that there were unusual radiation readings being emitted. We managed to isolate about nine landings. It is our duty in this taskforce to investigate all possibilities, but with this many landings we were stretched thin. We recovered two of these Hero Cores, including Breez here. But while we found evidence that at least three other cores had touched down, we were unable to find the cores themselves. Someone got to them before us."

"So you know about all the various locations these landed at?" Erez asked. "Like in Brazil, Japan, and Russia?"

"We are aware of potential landings in Brazil and Russia," Yolanda said. "But not Japan. I will have our research team look into that one."

"So who else would know about these Hero Cores, and why would they want them in the first place?" Vicki asked.

"Those are questions which we would be very interested to know the answers to," Yolanda said. "Luckily, I was able to recover Breez rather quickly, and she has filled us in on much of the limits to this 'miniaturization' technology that has trapped them within the cores."

"Furno mentioned it was an experimental technology," Samantha put in.

"I am surprised Furno even knew that much," Breez said. "I was well aware of the project, and have been able to analyze the additional code written in to understand some of its further limitations."

"So you know that the first person to activate the core is the only one it responds to?" Erez asked.

"In a matter of speaking, we are aware of the need for human masters to reactivate us," Breez said. "But it need not be the first person to touch the core. There are some other factors at work, some of which I am not fully familiar with. But I believe personality is one of them." Breez gestured to Samantha. "This child appears to be as hotheaded as Furno." She turned back to Erez. "Meanwhile, you have an analytical mind, similar to Nex, and yet the two of you are also timid. I do not think it is a mere coincidence that you were able to activate her core."

"You said you have a second Hero Core with you?" Samantha asked. "Who is it?"

"The Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce has been unable to activate it," Breez reported. "Therein lies the problem. Only select individuals will be able to activate a given Hero. When the cores are deactivated, we are unable to determine which Hero they contain, so we are also unable to select suitable candidates."

"So you haven't found the right match yet," Vicki said.

"Within our ranks, no," Yolanda said. "And, from that point, we must discuss you immediate futures. You see, we have also been unable to activate the two cores we confiscated from you. It is highly possible that we don't have adequate matches for those Heroes within our ranks either."

"So what are you saying?" Vicki asked.

"I am saying that Furno and Nex will be moved into permanent storage," Yolanda said. "We will allow you to summon them one last time to say your farewells, but without matching agents, we can no longer use the Heroes in our operations, so they will be sidelined for the foreseeable future."

Samantha, Erez, and Vicki all rose to protest, but Yolanda shook her head. "That is the final decision from my superiors," she said. "I understand that you have made an emotional connection with your respective Heroes, but at the time it would be too risky for your continued association with them…"

The door opened again, and another man entered. He had dark skin, short black hair, and a well decorated military uniform. "Lieutenant, there has been a change of plans," he said.

Yolanda stood up and saluted the man. "What change are you referring to, Captain Ricardo?" she asked.

"Based on the tales these children have relayed to us, the situation is direr than we predicted," Ricardo said. "We cannot afford to put aside two useful resources like that. I saw the red Hero fight last night; he was a skilled combatant, and I would prefer him to be working for our team."

"As would I, sir, but there are complications to that," Yolanda protested. "At the moment, sir, these children are the only ones that can summon those Heroes."

"And that is the change I was talking about," Ricardo said. "We cannot afford to let these children go."

"What do you mean by that?" Erez asked.

"First of all, they already present a security risk," Ricardo said. "They know too much. Secondly, they have a necessary use for our operations, due to their connections with their Heroes. We cannot just let them go, but we cannot sideline them either. We will need them to join in our operations."

"You want them to join the Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce?" Yolanda asked incredulously. "Are you mad? These are untrained teenagers! Who in their right mind would have vouched for such an idea?"

"We already have volunteers who will look after them," Ricardo said. "Two of them, actually."

Yolanda narrowed her eyes. "The twins?" she hissed. "The twins are behind this!"

"Yes, and although you outrank them, they still technically have seniority," Ricardo said. "They have been with this taskforce longer than anybody, and they feel that these children will be up to the challenges ahead of them."

"How could they know that?" Erez asked. "They don't know us?"

"They do not," Ricardo confirmed. "But they have been watching this interview, and they were most intrigued by your story."

"How were they watching… oh!" Vicki said, glancing at the walls. "There's a one way mirror in here, isn't there! That's why it's so bright in here!"

"This is a terrible idea," Yolanda said. "Those two are just trying to stir up more trouble, and you know it. There's no way we can bring three juveniles out into the field; it's simply too dangerous, for both them and any other agents."

"You know, we're right here and can hear you," Samantha said, annoyed.

"Agent Jocosus and Agent Jocosus may have been the instigators for this idea, but I am the one who is approving it," Ricardo said. "They will be seeing it through. And since they do have a reputation for stirring up trouble, you be also be accompanying them as their commanding officer. Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir," Yolanda said reluctantly. "But all the same, although we are not detaining them, we do not have the legal jurisdiction to send them out into the field."

"That can be arranged," Ricardo said. For the first time, he turned away from Yolanda and addressed the three kids directly. "However, none of this can be done against your will. We can only proceed if you are willing to go along with us."

"I don't know," Erez admitted. "I mean, it sounds like you need us, but are we really that beneficial after all?"

"I will not force you to answer right away," Ricardo said. "Think it over tonight, and have your answer prepared by O-six hundred tomorrow." He turned back to Yolanda. "See them to our guest quarters and return to them their belongings. They are no longer prisoners, so there is no need to keep them here. For now, treat them as VIP civilians."

"Understood, sir," Yolanda said, saluting Ricardo as he left the room. Samantha could see that she still greatly disagreed with his choice, but was forcing herself to obey. Once he left, Yolanda glanced at Breez, who had stood by quietly during the whole argument. "And what do you think?"

"I think there is merit to the idea," Breez admitted. "They are untrained, yes, but we were all rookies at one point. Spirit is a major determining factor in any Hero, and I believe these children have plenty. If it is enough will remain to be seen."

"Fair enough," Yolanda said. "Breez, please deactivate."

"As you wish," Breez said, and started shrinking back into her core.

"How did you do that?" Samantha asked. "I thought you had to physically touch the core to turn it off?"

"There are still things you have left to learn, child," Yolanda said. "Please get up and follow me. I will see you to your new quarters."

"We're not children, you know," Samantha said, getting to her feet. "I am almost old enough to be considered an adult."

"Then do not expect us to babysit you," Yolanda shot back.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Samantha sat on the edge of the cot she had been assigned, deep in thought. It was still dark out, but her mind had been spinning so much that she had hardly slept. So much had happened to her in the last day that she could barely believe it. But most of it, she realized, had been about helping Furno find his team. Well, now part of his team had been found, but there was more danger out there. Samantha could play her part in trying to resolve it, or she could walk away. Now she had to consider what she herself wanted.

On one hand, the thrill of the adventure was enticing. It was a chance to do something exciting for once, a chance she might not ever get again. However, there was also danger involved. She had been shot at more time than she could count in just the last day. And worse, she had brought two of her friends into this; what would she have done with herself if Erez or Vicki had been seriously injured?

Still, there was something more to it. This mission was more than about giving her something exciting to do; it was about dealing with a very real threat. Somebody was after these Heroes, and they were willing to kill to get their way. Samantha and her friends have survived some attacks, partially due to luck and skill. But if left unchecked, those bad people could potentially hurt others. And that said nothing of beings like Bruizer, who could easily slaughter masses of humans on his own.

Samantha wanted to do this to help people. In fact, that was one of the few things that gave her purpose. Only this time, she wouldn't be facing down a schoolyard bully. But all the same, she would have Furno and her friends at her side, so that helped even things up.

The lights snapped on in the small room, and Samantha blinked as her eyes adjusted. Nearby, Erez and Vicki rose from their cots, awakened by the sudden brightness. "Is it morning already?" Vicki complained.

The door to their room opened, and Captain Ricardo marched in flanked by Yolanda and a man in a white lab coat. "It is O-six hundred hours," Ricardo said. "Rise and shine."

"That means it's six in the morning," Erez complained. "You had us up half the night for that interrogation; can't we get some more shut eye."

"We do not have the luxury of time on our side," Ricardo said. "In half an hour, I am off to Washington to report on our progress. Yolanda departs at O-eleven hundred hours to begin her mission. Now you must decide if you're going to accompany her."

"You need that decision now?" Vicki asked, running the sleep out of her eyes.

"What happens if we say no?" Erez asked.

"You will be branded with a tracking bracelet and sworn to an oath of secrecy," Yolanda explained. "Then you will be returned to your residence, and your Hero will be moved to secure storage."

"Tracking bracelet?" Samantha repeated. "What is that?"

"It will be applied to your non dominant wrist and will relay to us your current position at all times," Yolanda explained. "It will also actively monitor any electronic communications you make."

"That sounds a bit too much like Big Brother," Vicki said.

"It is a necessary precaution," Yolanda said. "You will agree to it in your oath of secrecy, and it will ensure to us that you follow your oath. We are a secret taskforce, and we cannot have you spreading further information about our practices. Additionally, since there is the slight chance you will still be targeted even after abandoning your Heroes, it will act as an emergency beacon if you do find yourself in trouble."

"And you just expect us to accept this?" Samantha asked. "Constant government surveillance? Talk about a breach of privacy."

"It would be a temporary situation, used only for as long as we need to deal with this problem with the Heroes," Yolanda continued. "As a matter of fact, you will receive a bracelet regardless, as all members of our taskforce wear them at all times." She pulled up her sleeve and revealed her own bracelet, a narrow metal ring that encircled her left wrist.

"And if we do agree?" Erez asked.

"You will be inducted as junior agents," Yolanda said. "You be given your tracking bracelet, although you will have fewer restrictions with it as agents. You will undergo a medical screening, to determine both your physical and mental health. If approved, you will join me on my mission in five hours." She paused. "You will also have your Hero Cores returned to you, as well as permission to use your Heroes freely, within reason."

"And what about our parents?" Erez asked. "Mine are probably worried sick about me when I didn't come home last night."

"All your parents have been contacted and informed that you are well," Yolanda said.

"Wait, you told my folks that you detained me?" Erez asked, his breathing starting to act up. "That will only cause them to worry more."

"We have more finesse than that," Yolanda said. "We informed them that you were withheld on your hike due to the wildfire, but that you are safe and have your medication. If you agree to join us, we can come up with a more convincing ruse to explain your absence."

"So you'd lie to them?" Vicki asked.

"We would bend the truth, much as you have done in the past, Miss Kesler," Yolanda said. "As I said, we are a secret government organization. We cannot reveal our existence in such a way."

"Now you know more about your two options," Ricardo said. "Please make your decision now."

"Well, I just don't think…" Erez started, but Samantha cut him off.

"I'm in," she said.

"You fully understand the risks and accept the consequences?" Yolanda pressed.

"Yes, I do," Samantha said with determination. "This is something that could help a lot of people. But it will also help Furno, and I told him I would stand by him. I intend to abide by that promise."

"Very well, and you?" Ricardo asked, turning to Erez.

"I… I…" Erez said, stuttering. He paused and swallowed, and then finally said, "I want in too."

"Really?" Yolanda asked, slightly surprised.

"I know I have anxiety problems," Erez said, and he was still shaking slightly. "But being with Furno… and with Nex… it has made me feel better, like I belong. I… I haven't felt this way in a long time." He paused again, and added, "I know I am not the best recruit for an agent, but I would like to give this my all too."

"I'm so proud of you!" Vicki exclaimed, squeezing Erez from behind. "And I'll be with the both of you all the way."

"Actually, Miss Kesler, the invite does not extend to you," Yolanda said. "You do not have a Hero Core that you can activate, so your presence will be unnecessary. We will escort you back to your residence shortly."

"What, no!" Samantha said. "Vicki is just as much in this as Erez and me! And you detained her too! If she wants to go, she gets to go! Or else…" she paused. "If Vicki can't come, then I will not go. And if I'm not there, I don't expect Erez will also stay with you, meaning you lose access to both Furno and Nex."

"All the better," Yolanda said, satisfied. "Now we will not have to bother with any of you."

Ricardo, however, was taking Samantha's threat more seriously. He turned to Vicki, and asked, "What skills do you believe you can offer the team?" he asked.

"Well, I have an extensive knowledge of our legal system," Vicki said. "I'm a fast talker and, if I do say so myself, a fast thinker. I have an excellent driving record; I know I've only had my license for a couple of years but I've driven to a lot of places and never been pulled over. I can speak five languages, and I got excellent grades in my college level biology and chemistry classes. I'm very good at memorizing lines, and I only have to watch a film a couple of times before I can start speaking over all the characters, although this sometimes upsets my friends on movie nights…"

"Hold on, you speak five languages?" Ricardo asked. "Which ones?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty good at learning languages," Vicki said. "I can speak fluent English, Spanish, German, and Arabic. Plus, I have a pretty good understanding of Japanese, although I'm still learning because it is a complex language and very different from the ones I currently understand."

Ricardo turned to Yolanda. "And how many languages do you speak, Lieutenant?"

Yolanda paused. "Two, sir," she replied. "English and French. Well, what I can remember from my college French classes."

"Excellent," Ricardo said. "Then young Miss Kesler can accompany her friends as your official translator. You are expected to travel about extensively, so having an accomplished linguist will do you well."

"We have official translators!" Yolanda countered. "We don't need to recruit another teenager just for that!"

"We do have official translators," Ricardo agreed. "But they are all currently on assignment, and we have none to spare for your team. And I happen to know that the Jocosus twins only speak in English and trouble, so Miss Kesler's addition to your team will greatly increase your lingual capabilities."

Yolanda frowned but couldn't find any more counterpoints to offer. "Yes sir," she said reluctantly.

"Then Miss Peregrine, Mr. Beacan, Miss Kesler, welcome to the United States Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce," Captain Ricardo said. He gestured to the man in the lab coat next to him, who had remained silent so far. "Dr. Snowden will begin your medical evaluations shortly, and will accompany you on your mission. You will receive your badges and equipment shortly." He turned and nodded to Yolanda. "Now I must be off to Washington. I will leave them in your capable hands, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," Yolanda said, saluting him as he exited the room.

Dr. Snowden was an average height man, with curly orange hair and a pair of glasses hanging off his nose. "A pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking their hands. "Captain Ricardo and Lieutenant Yolanda can act tough, but they really do care about your wellbeing, and appreciate your cooperation on this endeavor."

"Not all of us can be softies, Doctor," Yolanda said.

"And your bedside manner would make for a terrible nurse," Dr. Snowden shot back with a grin. He turned back to Samantha and the others. "I will be the one conducting your medical examinations. I can lead you to my lab, where I will just need to run a few tests to make sure you can check out for field work. But do not fret; from what I have seen, both of you young ladies are in great health, and will be sure to pass with flying colors."

"What about my… anxiety issues," Erez asked. "I haven't even taken my medication this morning."

"I will take that into account, but it shall not be a deal breaker," Dr. Snowden said. "Although you may have to accept a more passive role, you should still be approved to accompany your friends."

"So what now?" Samantha asked. "Do we fill out paperwork first? And I guess we need to call our parents, and tell them whatever mix of truth and lies you have set up for us."

"Captain Ricardo will see to the paperwork for now," Yolanda said. "Meanwhile, Mr. Beacan and Miss Kesler's parents will be informed of their children's participation in a government funded educational program. At the moment, they could legally protest and demand your return, since you are still underage, so if you have any concerns, please let me know now."

"My parents will actually be thrilled that I'm going to some sort of summer camp," Erez said. "They're generally pleased when I can leave the house on my own."

"Mine shouldn't have a problem either," Vicki said brightly. "They fully support my independence and right to make my own decisions."

Samantha, however, frowned. "Are you not going to call my mother?" she asked. "She's very protective of me, so she might be concerned…"

"We have already received Mrs. Peregrine's permission for you," Yolanda said offhandedly.

"Wait, how did you…" Samantha started, confused.

However, Dr. Snowden cut her off. "If you would be so kind as to follow me, we can begin your medical examinations, unless there are any other pressing concerns."

"Actually, there's one thing I would really like to do first," Samantha said.

Dr. Snowden readjusted his glasses. "And what would that be, my dear?"

Samantha's stomach suddenly grumbled, and she grinned sheepishly. "I am really hungry, and would like to eat something," she said.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Mr. Dax yawned as he entered his limousine. "It's been a long night," he complained. "A long, productive night, but a long one nonetheless. I'll have to catch up on my sleep on the flight."

Miss Seychell entered the limo and sat across from Mr. Dax. "You flight is expected to last eleven hours," she said. "You will land in Istanbul midday, local time."

"That will be just enough time for me to catch up on my sleep," Dr. Dax said approvingly. He knocked on the window behind himself, and got the driver's attention. "Please take me to my residence. I have some paperwork to pick up before I leave."

As the limo started off, Miss Seychell frowned. "Sir, you are aware that your son will be at your residence?" she said.

"Ah, yes, Gerald is on his summer vacation, isn't he," Mr. Dax said thoughtfully. "What has the little scamp been up to lately?"

"I would have thought that, given your plans, you would do best to avoid your family," Miss Seychell said.

"And why would I do that?" Mr. Dax asked. "Yes, I have not always been the most attentive father, but Gerald has gotten by fairly well. His grades aren't bad, and he's a star player on his football team. If he keeps his skills sharp, he might even get into college with that. We have a decent relationship; he respects my work, and likewise, I respect his various interests."

"Do those interests involve beating on school girls?" Miss Seychell asked coolly.

"I don't understand?" Mr. Dax said.

Miss Seychell handed him a tablet computer, with a social media webpage already pulled up. "This is a post of an incident two days ago," she said. "He apparently started a fight with a young woman and then beat her. It would be bad for publicity, and I would prefer if you distance yourself from him."

Mr. Dax read the postings and frowned. "So you would have me cut tied to my own son. I know you were cold, Nadia, but this is something else."

"I am just thinking…" Miss Seychell started.

"When it comes to my family, I am the one who decides what is right and what isn't," Mr. Dax said. "This little fight is inconsequential. True, it was in poor taste for him to instigate it, but if you read the full posting, this young woman, Sam, fought back, and apparently delivered a blow herself. This is not some fight; this is just teenagers roughhousing. It is immature, yes, but not as scandalous as you would have put it."

"You wrap your words up pretty to disguise your son for what he really is," Miss Seychell muttered to herself. "No wonder your wife left you."

"What was that?" Mr. Dax asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last bit."

"I was just saying that you should talk with him and urge him to avoid such… behaviors in the future," Miss Seychell said, taking no care to disguise her insincerity.

Mr. Dax smirked; he wouldn't have taken that attitude from anybody else, but Miss Seychell knew how to deliver the lines just right, among other things. "I will keep that in mind," he said. "Now, do you have any more updates on our expeditions from the yesterday?"

Miss Seychell paused. "You did receive Mazhar's initial report, did you not?"

"Yes, I am aware that he failed to retrieve the Hero Core," Mr. Dax said, bored. "You don't have to worry about breaking that bad news."

"He was able to provide some intel," Miss Seychell said. "He reported that there were two Heroes, although one was dispatched by his summons, Bruizer. He also got good footage of the fight between Bruizer and the red Hero. That Hero appears to be skilled in hand to hand combat and can produce flames when attacking."

"Right, we knew some of the Heroes would have elemental powers," Mr. Dax said. "The extra verification is appreciated, though."

"In addition to the two Heroes, Mazhar was able to spot three civilians," Miss Seychell said. "He reported that they were merely children."

"Right, I read that part," Mr. Dax said. "But he was unable to identify them, although he said he chased down one dark skinned girl before the Hero intervened and they got away."

"Yes, but that was before we could analyze the footage from the drones earlier," Miss Seychell said. "Mazhar recovered the internal memory from the drones that the Heroes defeated, which were located a short distance away. From that footage, we were able to identify the main energy attack of the orange Hero, in addition to getting clean shots of the children. From those images, we managed to determine their identities."

Miss Seychell activated another window on the tablet computer, and three school photos showed up on the screen. "Vicki Kesler, Samantha Peregrine, Erez Beacan. They are all from the same school that your son attends."

"Yes, these names are familiar," Mr. Dax said. "The Keslers are lawyers, if I recall. Mrs. Peregrine is a research scientist; I recall trying to recruit her once without any success. The Beacan family… that name is also familiar."

"Your son has encountered their son before," Miss Seychell said. "There was an incident five years ago. They tried to sue for damages, but your legal defense team managed to settle it out of court, so it didn't turn into a public scandal."

"I remember, that was right after Gerald's mom left," Mr. Dax mused. "He was in a bad place at that time."

"Yes, and he took out his frustration on the younger child in a terrible hazing incident," Miss Seychell said. "And judging by his latest antics, he hasn't changed much since."

"Nonsense," Mr. Dax said. "He crossed the line back then, but not anymore since, minor incidents aside." He paused, as he glanced at the names. "Wait, Sam, Samantha… this is the same girl!" he said. "She had an interaction with Gerald one day, and then the next was at the side of a Hero. How intriguing." He paused. "Perhaps we can delay our flight slightly. I would very much like to speak with Samantha Peregrine to… apologize for my son's behavior. Yes, that would be as good an excuse as any."

"And while you apologize…" Miss Seychell started.

"You find where she's keeping her Hero Core," Mr. Dax stated. "If you can discretely swipe it, all the better. If not, then we may have to take things up a notch."

"There are three things wrong with that statement, sir," Miss Seychell said. "First of all, Miss Peregrine has managed to survive at least two, possibly three, attacks, so she is decidedly not helpless. Secondly, she still has access to a Hero, and if we could not discretely remove it from her possession, then we would find ourselves in over our heads. And finally, Miss Peregrine is no longer in the area."

"What was that last point?" Mr. Dax asked.

Miss Seychell sighed. "These three kids did not return to their homes last night. We intercepted communications that indicated they were delayed by the forest fire, but we know that is not true. They have been taken by a third party, I believe."

"Well, that is unfortunate," Mr. Dax said. "Still, this is good intel; we now know who controls the red and orange Heroes."

The limo came to a stop outside a large house, and Mr. Dax opened the door. "I will be back shortly, as soon as I've collected some of my belongings. If you would please assist me, I would appreciate it."

Gerald, meanwhile, was in the living room of Mr. Dax's house. However, he wasn't alone. He was currently making out with a young woman.

"Enjoying this, April?" Gerald asked, as they split apart to breathe.

"It's May, actually," the girl said between gasps.

"April, May, I knew it was a month," Gerald said, and they resumed kissing. But suddenly, Gerald heard the opening of a door. They broke apart and turned to see Mr. Dax and Miss Seychell watching them.

"Good morning, Gerald," Mr. Dax said emotionlessly. "I see you have a friend over."

"Dad…" Gerald said, as May backed up and adjusted her clothes. "I didn't expect you to be coming home so soon, since you were at the office all night."

"I was just stopping by to pick some things up before a trip," Mr. Dax said. He nodded to May. "Are you having a pleasant morning, Miss?"

"Um, yes," May said, blushing furiously. "I think I'll go… freshen up a bit. Yes, excuse me." She quickly darted out of the living room.

"Nice girl," Mr. Dax said offhandedly. "Now, Gerald, you remember my secretary, Miss Seychell?"

"Yes, I do," Gerald said. Secretly, he had had a crush on Miss Seychell since his father had first hired her. He held out his hand. "Nice to see you again."

Miss Seychell ignored it. "I will begin collecting your luggage, Mr. Dax," she stated, before walking out of the room.

"You didn't come back to hook up with her, did you?" Gerald asked as she disappeared down the hallway.

"Nadia? Good heavens, no," Mr. Dax exclaimed. "I always put business before pleasure, and her role with my company is far more important than some sexual fling." He paused. "But now, let us discuss your dating life."

"I'd rather we didn't," Gerald grumbled.

"I assume your companion was in consent with you," Mr. Dax said.

"Yeah, yeah, she was totally cool with this," Gerald said.

"Although I am surprised that you would be together so early in the morning," Mr. Dax said. "In my younger days, I would typically conduct a romantic date in the evening."

"I… of course," Gerald said. "She just stopped by now so we could… go places later," he finished lamely.

"Who is the young lady?" Mr. Dax asked.

"Her name's May… or April, I forget which," Gerald said. "On the hotness scale, she's probably an eight. She's also a cheerleader, from one of the schools I played against. We met at one of the games last year, and decided to meet up this summer."

Mr. Dax shook his head. "In my days, there was far more etiquette to the dating ritual. Kids these days just prefer to rush through it."

Gerald frowned. "Why are you getting down on me again about my dating life? You told me to be honest with you, and as long as I treat the girls respectfully and all you're fine with it."

"A good sign of respect would be learning her proper name," Mr. Dax said. "But on that topic, I have been informed that you have also been engaging in some other violent behaviors. Is it true that you hit a young woman the other day?"

Gerald smiled guiltily. "Oh, you found out about that?"

"Yes, and I cannot say I'm pleased," Mr. Dax said. "I understand you can sometimes act abusively towards your lesser peers, and while you think you are in the right, it does diminish their views of you, and that can be detrimental."

"I don't care what some stupid tomboy thinks of me," Gerald grumbled.

"Well, you should," Mr. Dax said. "There is a fine line to tread with power. If you belittled the weak too much, their anger will grow and make them stronger, and they will act against you. Rather, you need to take a more subtle approach in order to get what you want. People anger easily, but many are also rather stupid and easily manipulated. I have found that playing to the latter has been far more beneficial."

"So I should stop messing with people physically, and start doing it mentally?" Gerald asked.

"In a matter of speaking," Mr. Dax said. He paused, and looked over his son. "Gerald, what exactly are your plans for this summer?"

"I… don't really have any," Gerald admitted. "I was just going to hang out with my friends and have fun and such."

"Would you be more interested in joining me on a business venture?" Mr. Dax asked. "It will require some extensive traveling, but it will also give you a chance to work on your… people skills."

"I don't know, that doesn't sound like a very exciting summer," Gerald said.

"Oh, once you get in on it, it will be quite exhilarating," Mr. Dax said. "We will be making history in leaps and bounds, and it will secure Mirai Tech's spot at the top of the industry for years to come." He gave a sly grin. "Besides, Miss Seychell will be accompanying me."

Gerald bit his lip, now enticed. "I mean, if you think it's a good idea, I guess I won't mind tagging along," he said. "I'll see April… er, May off, and then I'll get packed real quick and…"

"There is no rush for you," Mr. Dax said. "In fact, I want you to show your companion a good time today, and that means not just writing her off as a simple fling. Take her out, make her feel special. And this evening, I will arrange for a separate flight for you to Istanbul, where you will meet up with us. And I will see that Miss Seychell accompanies you."

"Okay, good, great," Gerald said. He looked over to see Miss Seychell reenter the living room, now holding onto a suitcase.

"I have retrieved your luggage and paperwork, Mr. Dax," she said. "Did I hear my name mentioned just now?"

"I'll fill you in on the ride to the airport," Mr. Dax said. "See you later, Gerald."

"Yeah, see ya," Gerald said, as Mr. Dax and Miss Seychell walked out the front door. He collapsed back on the couch, and a few moments later, May reappeared.

"Are you parents gone now?" she asked.

"Well, my dad is," Gerald said. "That other woman was his secretary. I've actually had a bit of a crush on her for years now," he admitted.

"Oh, that's better," May said. "I thought it was really odd the way you were looking at her."

"Wait, are you leaving already?" Gerald asked.

"Well, after that little fiasco, I think it's probably best for me…" May started.

"Look, forget about that," Gerald said. "My dad's not judgmental like that. Let me take you out and… and do something you're really into."

"Oh, you mean it?" May said, using her finger to twirl her hair. "There was this new department store I wanted to visit and..."

"Sure thing," Gerald said, hiding back his disappointment. "Whatever you want, babe."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Samantha stepped out into the midmorning sun for the first time. She was now wearing a military cadet uniform, which although it fit, she still felt it was a little tight and restrictive on her movements. But it was better than wearing her sullied clothes from the previous day; at least she had been given a clean clothes and the chance to shower.

Erez and Vicki stepped out behind her, also dressed in similar uniforms. Vicki gasped at the sight outside. "Wow, this is a big place," she said.

Samantha could now see that they had been held in the basement of a large military building, on the edge of a large military base that seemed to be located in the high desert of eastern California. There were military personnel running about and lots of military vehicles, from simple trucks to a few tanks that were being serviced. In the distance, they could see an airfield where some jets were taking off.

"This is all with the ET Taskforce?" Vicki asked, in awe. "There's so much going on. I'm surprised they're shorthanded if they have this many resources."

"This is not all with the ET Taskforce," Lieutenant Yolanda said, stepping out behind the three of them. "This is a joint branch military base. The ET Taskforce is much smaller, but given current events, we are cooperating with other branches of the US Military. The squad of men you encountered last night were mostly from the Army."

"How many of those resources will we have available on our mission?" Erez asked.

"Some of them, but not all," Yolanda responded. "The team will be small, consisting of myself, Dr. Snowden, Agent Jocosus, and Agent Jocosus, as well as the three of you."

"That's not many people to go after whoever has been attacking us," Samantha said.

"Our mission will not be to engage with the enemy," Yolanda said. "Rather, our mission will be reconnaissance, where we will attempt to locate and retrieve or identify the owners of the remaining Hero Cores. We already have been given our first investigation. We will be briefed in Hanger 12, if you follow me."

Samantha and the others followed Yolanda across the base. Erez and Vicki were busy admiring the site, but Samantha's mind was still elsewhere. She was more than a little annoyed with her uniform. Her sleeves were too restrictive, and her boots felt rather heavier. Furthermore, the tracking bracelet was chaffing her right wrist. She had never been one to wear jewelry, so it felt quite odd to have something strapped around her arm.

They entered Hanger 12, and Erez and Vicki gasped again. The hanger was quite large, and housed a large cargo plane, which soldiers were currently loading equipment onto. Overseeing the process was Dr. Snowden, who was checking off the equipment as it entered the plane.

"Oh, hello, Lieutenant," he said. "And to the rest of you too."

"Why are you overseeing all this?" Vicki asked. "I thought you were just a doctor."

"I have many responsibilities," Dr. Snowden said. "Although I am primarily a medic, I will also be overseeing your technical needs for this mission. I will, essentially, be your immediate support team while you are in the field."

"Where are the twins?" Yolanda grumbled. "We're supposed to be briefed on the upcoming mission."

"They're right behind you," Dr. Snowden said with a shrug.

Yolanda spun around and yelped out. "Don't sneak up on us like that!" she snapped.

Samantha turned around and was surprised to see two men were standing right behind them, although she was certain they hadn't been there a moment before. At first glance, both of them seemed to be identical. They had short, combed back brown hair and each wore dark sunglasses. They were wearing similar military outfits, complete with a utility belt of gadgets. The only difference between the two of them was that one wore a red sash and the other a blue sash.

The two of them grinned broadly at Yolanda's surprised face. "Agents Adam Jocosus and David Jocosus, at your service," they said in unison.

Vicki blinked. "Wow, you really are identical twins. I thought it was odd that Yolanda kept referring to you like you're one person, but now I can see where she's coming from."

"What do the colored sashes signify?" Erez asked.

"These are actually meant to distinguish between the two of us," Adam, the twin with the red sash, said.

"Captain Ricardo's orders," David, the twin with the blue sash, added. "It turns out he needed a visual way to tell us apart too."

"Well, nice to meet you, Agent Jocosus and Agent Jocosus," Vicki said brightly.

"Please, our father was Agent Jocsus," David said. "Call us Adam and David."

"It makes things much easier," Adam said.

"Agent Jocosus, Agent Jocosus," Yolanda said darkly. "You have prepared our briefing?"

"And sometimes there are those who are not interested in the easy way," Adam said. "Very well, over here."

The twins led them to a small projector displaying images on the wall. "This is our first destination," David said, pointing to the map. "Sao Paulo, Brazil. We will be leaving in the next thirty minutes, once the rest of our equipment has been loaded. We will be flown down to a military airport in the region, where we will then depart via ground vehicles and make our way into the city."

"Sao Paulo, I recognize that," Erez said. "That was around one of the clusters of meteorite sightings I found; one of a few in the southern hemisphere, if I recall."

"That is correct," Adam said. "And I must say that I am impressed by your method, which seems to have relatively decent accuracy."

"Brazil, again?" Yolanda asked. "We already sent a team down yesterday. They reported that the Hero Core was already missing."

"Yes, and Agent Brodie and Agent Cody have since moved on to Europe," David said. "But recent evidence has suggested that the core is still down there."

"More radiation readings?" Yolanda asked.

"Yes, if by radiation you mean radio waves," Adam said, and he selected an icon on the projector. "Yesterday afternoon, Sao Paulo police found this recording after a major robbery."

He played the clip, which was fuzzy black and white security camera footage, showing an interior vault in the bank. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly one of the far walls was blasted opened, and a humanoid figure walked in through the hole. He grabbed the handle of the metal safe, ripped it off with ease, and flung it over his shoulder. The handle struck the camera, and the footage went to static.

"That looks like one of the Heroes," Samantha whispered.

"Indeed, this is what we're concerned about," Yolanda said, frowning. "The master is able to assert a certain amount of control over their Hero. For people like you and me, where our interests align with the Hero, it isn't an issue. But if a more greedy character got a hold of a Hero, there's potential that they could force them to commit crimes."

"Like robbing a bank," Erez put in.

"It was a big haul for them too," David said. "They took over forty thousand Brazilian Real, which translates to nearly eleven thousand US dollars. Quite the payday."

"So our mission is to go down there and track down this Hero and his master," Adam said. "We'll try to retrieve it too, but considering the three of you are junior agents, we will be avoiding combat if at all possible."

"But our Heroes could be useful," Erez said. "I know Nex has a way of tracking the radiation locally, so she can lead us right to this Hero when we get down there."

"Speaking of which, we have something for you," David said, pulling two Hero Cores from his pocket. "Christmas in July, as it were."

"Is that…?" Samantha asked.

"Furno and Nex, although we don't know which is which," Adam admitted. "And yes, we're aware of the irony there."

"One moment, let me summon Breez before you reactivate them," Yolanda said, reaching for her Hero Core.

"Why is that?" Samantha asked.

"Because when we last saw your buddy Furno, he was getting the snot beaten out of him by Breez," David said. "He might still be in battle mode."

"You had Breez beat down her own teammate?" Samantha asked of Yolanda.

Yolanda shrugged. "She had no objections to it. In fact, she may have enjoyed the chance to do so. I know what it's like to want to hit coworkers." She glared at the twins, who just grinned back broadly.

"Is there something wrong between the two… er, three of you?" Vicki asked, glancing between the twins and Yolanda.

"It's not just me," Yolanda said. "These two have a reputation of being mischievous, and there are plenty of folks who don't get along with them."

"Not really," David said. "There's just a few who are wound a little too tight and can't take a friendly joke. Ain't that right, Yolanda?"

"You put itching powder in my pants right before my cadet graduation!" Yolanda shot back. "You made one of the most important moments in my life also one of the most uncomfortable!"

"I'll admit, we may have got the timing off a bit on that one," Adam said. "But all in good fun, right?"

"Good fun?" Yolanda repeated, her face glowing red. "Your idea of good fun is what has ruined your careers."

"What do you mean by that?" Vicki asked, genuinely curious.

"The Lieutenant is just going off old stories she's heard about us," David said. "See, years ago, the two of us were some of the most promising agents. But some of our superiors found our sense of humor… distasteful. We kept getting shuffled around until eventually they landed us in the ET Taskforce. And this was twenty years ago."

"The taskforce is only thirty years old," Adam added. "And, generally, it is one of the least active branches of the military, to the point where we're mostly just providing assistance when other branches are overwhelmed. It's not the career placement most soldiers look for."

"Now, this thing with the Heroes is the most excitement we've had in a long time," David continued. "And since we've been part of this taskforce longer than Lieutenant Yolanda and even Captain Ricardo, we're able to jump on this mission to go and track down these Heroes first hand." He winked. "And now you're coming along for the ride!"

"What they mean to say is that they had potential to be great agents, but squandered it for cheap laughs," Yolanda said. "Now they've managed to walk the tightrope, where they bend the rules as far as they can without breaking them. Officially, we have nothing to use against them, but one day you will slip up and Captain Ricardo will court-martial your asses!"

"Yolanda is also jealous that the two of us continue to score higher than her in just about every field," Adam said.

"I don't know why she's still so uptight," David said. "She did get the promotion over us, after all, and she's only been with the taskforce for a few years."

"But wait, if the taskforce is supposed to be a dead end position, why is Yolanda here?" Samantha asked.

"Her pleasant disposition has clearly charmed all her other superiors," David pointed out. "And I'm sure they've also appreciated her constant need to question authority too."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Yolanda snapped.

"Unfound rumors, I suppose," David said with a smile. "Besides, while there is a general view that getting assigned here is a punishment, we've seen plenty of men and women come in and get transitioned out. It's just a temporary setback, not a career killer."

"The rumor being that if they can put up with the two of you, they deserve a second chance," Yolanda grumbled.

"And we're so delighted to perform these duties for the higher ups and their political motivations," Adam said brightly. "But today, we aren't that dumb side taskforce; we're the ones who are in top of this latest crisis, and like hell we're going to see it through."

"Besides, they haven't let us fly out of the country since Singapore," David put in.

"Oh, right," Adam said. "That was fun, but it turns out Singapore has a law against annoying people with musical instruments."

"That and the unauthorized fireworks," David said.

"Anyway, enough of that," Adam said. "Let's bring the Heroes out and get all the introductions out of the way!"

Samantha and Erez hesitated, but then pressed the center of their Hero Cores, while Yolanda causally said, "Breez, activate." A few moments later, all three Heroes were standing inside the hanger.

Erez rushed forward and embraced Nex. "You're alive!" he said. "I was so worried after what happened to you, but you're still okay."

Nex nodded. "Indeed, my repairs have been successful. But where are we?"

"What are you doing here?" Furno demanded, pointing at Breez. "You're a traitor to our cause, Breez!"

"Calm down, hothead," Breez said, bored. "We're on the same side again."

"It's okay, Furno," Samantha said. "These are the good guys too. Although they were a bit… forceful when meeting us. But we've worked things out, and now we're going on a mission together."

"You know, if you had wanted to team up, you could've just asked," Furno snipped at Breez.

"We had to confirm that you weren't compromised," Breez stated. "For you, it can be hard to tell the difference."

"And speaking of compromised, our target may indeed have been turned," Yolanda said. "Agent Jocosus, Agent Jocosus, please continue your briefing for the Heroes."

Both Adam and David were studying the new Heroes intently. "Similar builds, but unique designs," Adam said. "The body structures seem to have different uses, as this one seems more agile while this one is stronger."

"An explanation would be nice right about now," Furno said.

Samantha and the others hastily explained what had happened while Furno and Nex had been deactivated, including their new alliance and mission. Nex took the information in eagerly, but Furno still seemed distrustful, and kept glaring back at Breez.

"And that's it," David finished, having shown the clip from Sao Paulo. "So we're going to go down there and track this Hero down. We can't have him robbing banks and such, now can we."

"That did look like one of our teammates," Furno said. "But I can't tell which one. Yet none of them would take to committing petty crimes. That goes against what they stand for!"

"That is why we believe he may be compromised," Breez stated. "Keep up, Furno. We're here to try and separate whoever that is from their bad master."

"It may not even be a Hero we're dealing with," Nex pointed out. "We encountered Bruizer here, which means that some of our enemies have made it to this world too. And we don't know if they have the same need of a master as we do."

"There was a man associated with Bruizer," Furno said. "I think it's safe to say there's some sort of alliance. All the same, we must be prepared to deal with both our teammates and our enemies appearing out there."

"But Erez is correct; I will be able to track whoever it is down by their radiation signatures," Nex said.

"Sounds like a plan," David said, clapping his hands together. "So looks like we're about ready to take off, so let's get aboard the plane."

"It's best if the Heroes return to their cores," Yolanda said. "Breez, deactivate."

Breez shrunk down to her core, and Erez took note. "Will that work with you too?" he asked Nex.

"It does appear that you can issue verbal commands that I must obey," Nex said. "You can give it a try."

"Okay, see you soon," Erez said. "Nex, deactivate."

As Nex shrunk down into her core, Yolanda nodded at Samantha. "Your turn."

Furno stepped next to Samantha and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I still don't trust these folks," he said. "If you're put in any sort of danger, summon me immediately. I will help you."

"I don't trust them completely, either," Samantha whispered back. "But for now, I'm going to work with them. And it's good to know you have my back." With a smile, she said loudly, "Furno, deactivate."

Furno shrunk down into his Hero Core, and Samantha picked it up and pocketed it. Adam, meanwhile, ushered them towards the plane. "Come along now, kids. It's time to head to Brazil!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Samantha stepped off the plane and into the cool, dry Brazilian air. Their flight had been about eleven hours, so it was already night time again, but Samantha was grateful to get out and stretch her legs. However, there was a chill to the air. Since it was in the southern hemisphere, it was currently winter in Sao Paulo, even though it had been summer in California.

The plane ride had been mostly uneventful. Samantha and her friends had gotten a chance to rest, having barely slept the previous night. Erez had actually taken some sleep medicine, because it turned out he had a fear of flying, so he had spent the better part of the trip unconscious.

When she had been awake, Samantha had listened to the stories told by the twins. Although Adam and David were in a dead end taskforce, they still found plenty of chances to travel around the world, from helping with disaster relief in Indonesia to providing extra security at leadership conferences in Paris. Although their stories usually involved their wild antics, Samantha was able to gleam from them that the twins were dedicated soldiers, and when they put their minds to something, they saw through it until the end. Apparently they toed a thin line; their behavior was enough to annoy most of their superiors, but their skills were strong enough to keep them in their positions.

Samantha had also spoken a great deal to Yolanda, mostly discussing what she knew about the Hero Cores. It turned out that Samantha's influence over Furno was greater than she had known, but it was just that their goals had been in alignment, so she hadn't needed to use any of it yet. She could give Furno various verbal commands, and depending on their simplicity, Furno would have to follow them regardless. She also learned that Furno was not actually bound to be within close proximity of her at any given times. Initially, she hadn't given Furno permission to leave, so that was why he had his movements limited. But if she allowed it, Furno could travel any distance from her. The downside, as Yolanda had put it, was that the Heroes couldn't receive additional commands if they were too far away, which would explain why the one man had kept close to Bruizer earlier, in case he needed to provide additional instructions.

However, this insight on the commands made Samantha realize that the Heroes were in a vulnerable state where they could be manipulated. Perhaps that was one of the reasons they would only activate for persons of similar personality. But even then, people could have a similar personality to a Hero and still had ill intentions for them. And that must've been what was happening to the Hero in Sao Paulo.

Vicki exited the plane after Samantha, still in a fit of laugher. She had really taken to the twins and their stories, and seemed to share their humor. This had enticed Adam and David to tell their best stories to Vicki's delight, although in the process it seemed to irk Yolanda.

"Those two are hilarious," Vicki said to Samantha. "It was worth it to come down just to listen to them!"

Samantha couldn't help but smile. Vicki was a talker, not a listener, so the twins had to be very interesting indeed to get her excited about their stories.

Yolanda was right behind the two girls. "We did not come down here to socialize," she said. "We have a mission." She eyed some Brazilian military personnel approaching the plane. "Miss Kesler, please come with me. I believe we will be making use of your Spanish language skills now."

"Actually, this is Brazil, and they speak Portuguese here," Vicki corrected.

Yolanda turned and started hard at her, and Vicki gulped. "What I mean to say is… I'm not fluent in Portuguese, but I know some of the basics, and it's similar to Spanish, so I can try to help you out."

As Yolanda and Vicki talked with the Brazilians, Samantha saw that Adam and David were starting to unload cargo from the airplane into two trucks. "What is all these stuff?" she asked, walking over.

"Weapons, communication equipment, other scientific stuff," David replied, setting down a box. "We have a few neat toys in here, useful for when we get in sticky situations."

"We probably over packed, but you can never be too careful," Adam added.

Dr. Snowden walked over, with some equipment of his own. "We need a lot of this if we want to effectively track down these Hero Cores," he said. "We will need to set up a temporary headquarters, and to do that we need some more powerful computers than we could borrow while we're down here. Effectively, we have to be self-sufficient when we're out of the country."

"Dr. Snowy likes his toys too," David teased. "That's why we have a lot of medical equipment down here too."

"It's pronounced 'Snowden'," Dr. Snowden corrected. Unlike Yolanda, he seemed unfazed by the twin's antics. Part of it was that Dr. Snowden had been working with the twins for many years now, and had just grown used to their habits. The rest was that, although the twins made fun of his name, they respected him too much to pull any pranks on him. He had apparently gotten back at them in the past.

Samantha joined in and helped the twins load the last of their equipment into the trucks. Meanwhile, Yolanda and Vicki rejoined them. "I was able to convince the Brazilians that we're just down here for routine training exercises," she said. "They don't need to know about alien robots at this point. Luckily, it turns out they spoke decent English," she added, glaring at Vicki.

Ignoring the comment, Vicki asked, "So where to next?"

"We've managed to secure lodgings at a local safe house," David reported. "It's not much, but it's in a quiet enough neighborhood so we shouldn't be bothered there."

"We have two routes planned, which should ensure that we're not being followed," Adam said. "Once we're set up, we will begin our searches. Dr. Snowy will stay behind at the safe house, and the rest of us will scope out the city and see if we can pick up any clues."

"But it's night out," Vicki pointed out. "In fact, if my time zone calculations are correct, it's already past Midnight here."

"Excellent, all the better to search while the general public is asleep," Adam said.

"Besides, all the best clubs are opened at night," David pointed out. "Although, of course, we'd never go to those while on the job," he added, as Yolanda glared at him.

"Okay, so we'll split up into two teams," Adam said. "David and I will take one vehicle and go along the northern route, while Yolanda and Snowy will drive along the southern route."

"No, I am not leaving the two of you unsupervised," Yolanda barked. "Agent Adam Jocosus and I will take one vehicle with Miss Peregrine and Miss Kesler. Agent David Jocosus and Dr. Snowden will go with Mr. Beacan."

"Fine, but I'm still driving," Adam said, swiveling the keys in his hands.

Samantha and Vicki pilled in the back seat as Yolanda took the passenger side, and they started off. Yolanda started messing with the radio until she tuned it to a certain frequency. "There, that should get us in on their police communications," she said. "We'll be forewarned if there's another incident."

"So, where is this safe house at?" Vicki asked.

"Northeastern section of the city," Adam replied. "It's less of a house and more a storage utility. It's in an industrial park in the hills, but most of the area has been abandoned. We'll be on our own there."

"I see," Vicki said. They rode in silence for a bit, so just to make conversation she asked, "What ever happened to that other Hero Core you found? The one that didn't get activated?"

"It's back at our base of operations in California," Yolanda replied. "It was taken there after we recovered it in Florida yesterday. Now it's been safely secured away, since we can't make use of it. Occasionally, Captain Ricardo may test it on additional personnel, just to see if it activates for any of them. Until then, it's hidden out of the way."

"Yeah, except that's not entirely accurate anymore," Adam noted.

"What?"

"There was a slight change of plan," Adam continued. "You see, it's still giving off the radiation, and we know that radiation can be tracked. It could potentially lead the bad guys right to our secret base of operations. So instead, it was decided to move it where the radiation wouldn't get noticed."

"And where is that?"

Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out the core. "Right here," he said.

"What the… how did you…" Yolanda started, growing red with anger.

"The logic is sound," Adam said. "We're already traveling with three other Heroes who give off the radiation, so that's a tracking risk we're dealing with anyway. But we're on the move and already on alert, so there's not a safer place for it. Captain Ricardo would certainly agree."

"What do you mean he would agree?" Yolanda asked.

"Because he doesn't know that David and I swiped it yet," Adam said. "Or maybe he does, but hasn't been able to get through to us yet. Oh well, that's the risks with traveling on radio silence."

"We're not on radio silence," Yolanda said. "When we get to that safe house, I am letting him know straight away about your treachery."

"Chill out," Adam said. "This thing could be far more useful out in the field than locked away in some vault. I'm just disappointed that it didn't activate for me or David. I guess none of these Heroes share our sense of humor either."

Yolanda was about to continue the argument, when suddenly voices began speaking over the radio. She paused. "Something's going on."

"Yeah, too bad we can't understand it," Adam said.

"I mean, I can understand some of it," Vicki said from the backseat. "They keep saying some numbers over and over. Ten, six, five. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Sounds like a code for a particular situation," Yolanda mused. She pulled out a tablet, and began pulling up some documentation. "Brazilian police code… ah, here we are. Ten, six, five." She paused. "Armed robbery, very dangerous suspect, all units move to intercept."

"Well, now that's intriguing," Adam said. "Do we have a location?"

"I'm hearing some other numbers, I think it might be in association with street names," Vicki said. "Thirty-first… or is that forty-first?"

"Numbered streets like that would be downtown," Yolanda said, grabbing the radio. "We have a course alteration. We may have a sighting of our quarry. Head towards the downtown area. Follow any police vehicles, if you can, but stay back and do not engage."

Adam spun the wheel and switched over to another road that headed towards the city. After a few minutes, they began to hear the sounds of sirens in the distance. "We're getting closer," Yolanda said.

Eventually, Adam pulled onto an elevated highway that went through a warehouse district. Yolanda glanced out the window and saw flashing lights, and motioned for him to stop. "They're on the ground level," she said, getting out of the truck and grabbing a pair of night vision binoculars.

Samantha and Vicki also got out of the truck and peered over the edge of the highway. Below, they could see a police blockade of one of the streets, but there was no sign of whoever it is they were after.

"This could just be a checkpoint," Adam suggested. "They might be trying to trap the bad guy in a smaller area, and then move in to pin him down. So there's no guarantee that we'll see anything from here."

"Don't count us out just yet," Yolanda said. "Look."

Lights were flickering in one of the adjacent warehouse buildings, and they could hear shots being fired. Suddenly, the wall to the building exploded outwards, and a large robotic figure stepped out onto the street. He was a muscular figure, larger than even Furno. He had silver armor and an orange Hero Core, and carried a metal dagger in one hand and a sack full of cash in the other.

On the ground, the police officers started shouting at the Hero in Portuguese, demanding his surrender. But the Hero took no heed of them and pushed forward. He slid his dagger away and reached down to grab a metal guardrail the police had put up as a blockage. The metal bent in his hands like putty, and with ease he tossed the guardrail aside.

This was enough for the police, who opened fire. However, their bullets merely bounced off the Hero's tough armor. He drew his dagger and threw it at one of the officers, who just managed to dodge it, and the blade instead pierced the windshield of their police car.

The rest of the policemen started backing up, unsure if they could still take this new threat. But the Hero wasn't done with them yet. He held out his free hand, and metal blades began to extend from his armor, forming more throwing daggers. He eyed the policemen, wondering which to impale first.

"No!" Vicki cried. "He's going to kill them."

"We need to communicate to the police officers, and warn them of this threat," Yolanda said, already heading back to the truck for the radio. "But we cannot engage yet or else we risk…"

But she was cut off as Samantha retrieved her Hero Core and threw it off the overpass. "Furno, activate!" she shouted.

The silver Hero heard her cries, and looked up to see the Hero Core expanding. Now it only took Furno a few seconds to reactivate, and he was fully formed as he hit the ground. He motioned for the cops to stay back, and then turned to the silver Hero, who instantly recognized him.

"Furno!" the Hero said in his native language. "It's good to see you here, buddy!"

"Bulk," Furno said, addressing his former teammate. "What are you doing here?"

"Just fulfilling my master's orders," Bulk said casually. "These law enforcement officers were unfortunately getting in my way."

"Bulk, you're a thief right now," Furno insisted. "That's not who you are; that's not what you stand for."

"I know," Bulk said with a shrug. "But I've got a new master, and I have to follow his orders. It's pretty strange how that works out, really, but I just have to roll with the punches." He nodded. "It was good seeing you, Furno. I'm glad you are well."

Furno narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Bulk, but I can't just let you walk away from this."

"Are you threatening me?" Bulk asked, slightly surprised. "My master told me to take down anybody who gets in my way. I would rather not have to take you down, Furno."

"And I'd rather not fight one of my own teammates," Furno said, summoning his blaster. "But sometimes you have to just roll with it."

Annoyed, Bulk dropped the bag of cash and crunched his fists together. "Can't say I didn't warn you, Furno," he said, and then he charged forward.

Furno's blaster lit up and he fired a shot at Bulk. He grinned and said, "Finally, this thing is working again." But then he frowned as the blast struck Bulk but did nothing. "Except I forgot that his armor is just too tough."

Furno summoned his shield just as Bulk reached him. Bulk threw his fist and rammed it into Furno's shield, throwing the Hero of Fire backwards ten feet. Furno steadied himself after the blow, and then summoned his sword as Bulk charged again. He swung his blade, but Bulk also created a blade of his own which he used to parry Furno's.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Yolanda shouted at Samantha, and the Heroes began battling below.

"I'm thinking that Furno just saved the lives of those policemen," Samantha shot back. "He can take on that Hero, but those men can't."

"You can just blindly throw your Hero into a fight," Yolanda raged. "This is foreign soil; you have no jurisdiction, you have no authorization, you have no right."

"I'm not going to sit by and watch people die just because of your bureaucracy," Samantha shot back.

"This is why I didn't want you to come on this mission," Yolanda spat. "You are nothing but an impulsive child."

"Calm down, Lieutenant," Adam snapped. "Question her actions later. For what it's worth, I think she did the right thing. But what matters is that we've already found our quarry and he's currently engaging with one of our Heroes. So now let's find a way to contain him, pronto."

Yolanda gritted her teeth, but grabbed her radio. "Agent Jocosus, Dr. Snowden, what is your current position? We are currently engaging the Hero."

David's voice carried over the radio. "We're en route, but still about ten minutes out."

"Have Mr. Beacan activate Nex," Yolanda said. "She will reach us quicker, and we'll need her to assist." She dropped the radio and pulled out her own Hero Core. "Breez, get on out here."

Breez appeared, and glanced down at the fight below. "So Furno's already started," she said. "And that is indeed one of our teammates. He's Duncan Bulk, elemental Hero of Metal. He has very tough armor, and is the strongest Hero in all of Hero Factory." She paused. "But he's also a bit dim, so it wouldn't be unthinkable for him to get compromised."

"Can Furno defeat him?" Samantha asked.

"Not a chance," Breez said. "But with the combined efforts of Furno, Nex, and myself, it's a possibility."

Below, Furno and Bulk locked blades, but then Bulk warped the metal of his blade, and it coiled around Furno's sword. Before Furno could comprehend this, Bulk ripped his sword from his hands and tossed it aside. Furno followed up with a powerful punch, aimed at Bulk's Hero Core. But Bulk casually caught Furno's hand mid-punch, and grabbed onto his fist and lifted Furno up into the air. With another casual swing, Bulk threw Furno through the air, and he crashed into the damaged warehouse across the street.

"Nice attempt, Furno," Bulk said. "But futile. No one has ever bested me in a fight before. No villain, no Hero. Not even Stormer could take me down."

"I am entirely aware of your reputation," Furno grumbled, struggling back to his feet. "But you see, I'm always out to break a new record or two. Might as well start with you."

Bulk cracked his knuckled and approached Furno, but suddenly caught a glimpse of a flying boomerang out of the corner of his eye. He swung up his arm and deflected Breez's weapon even as she landed on his right. He was about to charge her next when another blast of green energy struck his head. He turned just in time to see Nex approaching from his left, with her bow in hand.

"This is quite a reunion," Bulk said. "Good to see you, Breez, Nex. I assume you are in league with Furno."

"Stand down, Bulk," Breez said. "You can't take down three of us at once."

Bulked sighed. "My master told me to take down anybody who got in my way… but he also mentioned that I could just flee instead." He held out his hands and summoned more throwing daggers. "I would suggest that you not follow."

The three Heroes moved in to attack at once, but Bulk threw his daggers first. Nex and Furno got hit in their leg joints, breaking their strides completely. Breez managed to deflect the dagger and charged Bulk, but he threw a punch and caught her in the helmet, and this time she was knocked back twenty feet. As she struggled back to her feet, she caught one last glimpse of Bulk's silver armor as he disappeared into the night.

"Well," Furno said, struggling to rise on his damaged leg. "That could have gone better."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Adam and David both pulled up to the safe house at the same time. Vicki frowned as she stepped out of the car. "That's the safe house?" she asked. "It's barely even a structure, and I don't think it looks very safe."

"It works for our purposes," Adam said. "It's isolated, but still relatively easy to access. And the fact that it doesn't look like much on the outside is a great benefit. Plus, it's better on the inside."

"Really?" Vicki asked.

"Well, it has electricity and a good fiber optics connection," Adam admitted. "I guess it is just as desolate looking inside too."

"Unload all the equipment at once," Yolanda said. "I want the research team at work within the next ten minutes. We need to know where to find this Hero and, more specifically, where to find his master. Once we've unloaded the truck, the reconnaissance team will head out and try to pick up the trail."

"We're splitting up into teams?" Samantha asked.

"Yes we are," Yolanda confirmed. "Agent Adam Jocosus, Mr. Beacan, and myself will form the reconnaissance team, while Agent David Jocosus, Dr. Snowden, Miss Kesler, and Miss Peregrine will stay behind as the research team."

"Wait, I would prefer to be on the research team," Erez asked. "After all, I do get carsick easily. Wouldn't you rather have Samantha go with you?"

"I will be requiring your presence so we can utilize your Hero," Yolanda said. "We will need her enhanced senses to help us track down this rouge Hero. Alternatively, Miss Peregrine is banned from engaging in the field, after the stunt she pulled earlier."

Samantha frowned at her statement, but Adam stepped forward. "Are you still upset about that?" he asked. "You were just moments from throwing your Hero down there, I know it. Stop being so hard on the girl for making a snap decision."

"She needs to learn protocol and obedience," Yolanda snapped. "Some of us go through years of training to learn that. Although you were obviously not one yourself, Agent Jocosus."

"Your attitude is getting really old, really fast," Adam shot back. "Knowing how to follow rules is good and all, but when you're out in the field, you need to think for yourself, and sometimes you need to think fast. Punishing her for doing just that is counterproductive."

Adam and Yolanda continued to stare daggers at each other, but then Dr. Snowden stepped between them. "Yolanda is being a bit harsh, but it comes from a place of caution," he said. "While Miss Peregrine's actions tonight were admirable, Yolanda does not wish to approve of snap decisions like that, because often they can be wrong. So for now, let us just go with her team assignments for the night."

"Thank you, Doctor," Yolanda said. "Now, less yapping and more moving. We need these trucks unloaded."

Ten minutes later, Yolanda, Adam, and Erez drove off into the night, while David, Dr. Snowden, Samantha, and Vicki set up their computer equipment inside the old building. Vicki placed a monitor on a table, which kicked up a cloud of dust. She coughed and tried to swipe it away with her hands, but then shrieked as she heard something scurry by. "I think this place has rats!"

"Better than snakes," David said, powering up their computer.

As the screens went live, Dr. Snowden started typing, bringing up various news stories. "Now we just need to put the pieces together and figure out what is going on," he said. "Look, here's tonight's raid. He had indeed hit another bank. I wonder if there have been any other incidents involving this Hero in the last few days."

"So now what do we do?" Samantha asked, fiddling with her Hero Core. She had deactivated Furno to let his leg repair from the previous fight.

"Put your thinking caps on and help us figure out any patterns," David said brightly. "We have a few spare tablets over here, so you can use them to read up on stuff. Oh, and we also have this," he said, picking up the spare Hero Core that Adam had handed off. "Yolanda said to put this someplace secure. So how about on the desk here? That's secure, right?"

Dr. Snowden stared intently at his screen, and then jotted down some stats in his notebook. "Interesting," he said. "There have been five bank robberies in the last two days where the thief has been described as a man sized robot. This Bulk character has been busy."

"And they've all been banks?" Vicki asked.

Dr. Snowden nodded. "Yes, although it's not very surprising. Sao Paulo is a major financial district in Brazil and the biggest in all of South America. There are hundreds of banks in this metropolitan area."

"Still, it seems odd," David said, pulling up a list of the banks. "Why these five banks? According to the records here, they don't have the largest cash reserves in the area. And their securities are at varying levels of effectiveness, but by no means are they easy targets either."

"Indeed," Dr. Snowden agreed. "Based on all appearances, these banks seem to be chosen at random. But true random actions rarely occur, so there must be some connections between them all."

"They're all in different parts of the city, and they have differing clientele too," David said. "I don't think these were chosen based on a logistical reasoning. I think this is personal."

"How did you get to that?" Vicki asked. "Why would Bulk be against Brazilian banks?"

"Not Bulk, per say, but rather his master," David said. "The selection of these banks doesn't follow a pattern based on reason, like how much cash they hold or how close they are to a base of operations. This makes me think the selections were made emotion, perhaps as a form of revenge. Somebody must've had something against these five banks, and thus sent in Bulk to rob them. After all, the Hero makes for a perfect thief; he can smash through any security and shrug off any resistance. It's actually quite amazing that there haven't been any fatalities yet."

"So we need to figure out who had it in for these banks," Samantha summarized. "But how?"

"By researching!" David said brightly. "Start up your tablet and get to reading!"

OoOoOoOoO

Mazhar waited in his car outside of a busy airport. He adjusted his collar, uncomfortable in the heat of the day. His travel plans had been yet again altered at the last minute, so he hadn't brought clothing adequate for the climate. He chided himself for not getting a fancier car with air conditioning, but his orders had been to select a vehicle that was inconspicuous.

There was a tap on the passenger window, and Mazhar turned to see Mr. Dax waiting. Mazhar unlocked the door and Mr. Dax stored away his luggage and took a seat.

"You're late," Mazhar grumbled, as he drove out from the airport terminal. "Your flight was supposed to land an hour ago."

"There was a short delay going through customs," Mr. Dax reported. "It wasn't anything a little bribery couldn't handle, but it did slow me slightly. I take it your travels here were less hectic."

"I made good time," Mazhar said. "But I was supposed to be in Russia right now. I know you tend to make last minute changes all the time, but there've been quite a lot lately." He frowned. "I was looking forward to enjoying some good vodka when I got in, but then that never happened."

"The situation with the Heroes has been in a lot of flux," Mr. Dax said. "I've been quick to adapt to the changing situations."

"Well, the Russia trip will be severely delayed now," Mazhar said.

"It matters not," Mr. Dax said. "I've already checked the satellite radiation readings. The core that landed in Russia is there no more."

"Wait, it's not there?" Mazhar asked. "Why did you not tell me earlier?"

"I am telling you now," Mr. Dax said. "It appears that it has already fallen in the hands of another advisory, and I believe I even know who it is too. We will have a better chance later this week to recover that one, so I altered priorities. Especially when I learned of the gem in this city. You can have your alcohol later. "

Mazhar crested a hill, and the view of city of Istanbul came into view. Various buildings could be seen rising into the sky on either side of the Bosphorus strait. Given time differences, it was only midday in the transcontinental city.

"I have rented a penthouse for a couple of days while we are here," Mr. Dax said. "Let us stop by there first. My son and Miss Seychell will be arriving there as well this evening, so I would like to make sure it is set up for us all."

"You son will be joining us?" Mazhar asked. "And your secretary? If I may speak freely, wasn't this trip supposed to be more secretive?"

"Are you jealous that you don't get to spend more alone time with me?" Mr. Dax mocked.

"Honestly, I would rather proceed on my own," Mazhar said. "I don't always play well with others."

"And that is one of the reasons you are my muscle," Dr. Dax said. "I appreciate your effort and discretion. However, Miss Seychell is more than capable, and will provide excellent insight when we need it, among other things. My son… now that is a more experimental move on my part. I brought him along partially to teach him some real world skills, but also because I believe I can make use of his other abilities too. Besides, being my son, he is entirely loyal to me. If you can't trust your family, then who can you trust at all?"

"As long as you are aware of the risks," Mazhar said. "I will see to your will."

Suddenly, lights began flashing in Mazhar's rearview mirror. He cursed. "Police? I wasn't even driving too fast."

Mr. Dax frowned. "Based on that vehicle, I don't think these are your standard Turkish police officers. Let me do the talking."

Mazhar reluctant came to a stop, and behind them they saw two men in suits get out. One of the man tapped on their door, and said, "Please exit your vehicle."

"As you wish," Mr. Dax said, getting out. "What can we help you gentlemen with today?"

"You just left from the airport, did you not?" one of the men asked.

"Yes, that is correct," Mr. Dax said. "If you will excuse me, I notice that your English is very good. Do you not normally speak Turkish here?"

The men ignored him. "It has come to our attention that you had some issues going through security, due to an object with unusual radiation signatures."

"Radiation? No, that wasn't me," Mr. Dax said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Hero Core. "See, it's just this little trinket didn't like going through the metal detector. But everything worked out in the end, so no worries."

"Unfortunately, that is not the case," the second man said. "We believe that object may have dangerous radiation levels."

"Well, I mean, I'm taking it out of the airport, so shouldn't that mean it's none of your business anymore?" Mr. Dax asked. "And what branch of the Istanbul police force are you with again?"

"Please set down the object, sir," one of the men said sternly. Mr. Dax could see the other was starting to reach for the gun on his belt.

"Mazhar, I believe now would be a good time to introduce these officers to Bruizer," Mr. Dax said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Actually," Mazhar started, frowning. "The core is still packed away in my luggage."

"You don't have it on your person at all times?"

"Not when I'm shuffling through airport security on last minute trip changes."

"Please set the object down," the men repeated. "Or else we may have to resort to force."

Mr. Dax sighed. "If you want something done right, I guess you have to do it yourself." He nodded to the two men. "You want to resort to force. You got it."

Mr. Dax tapped the center of the Hero Core, and it turned blue and began to expand into a Hero with white armor. The character had broad shoulders and an ice gun molded into one of his arms. His blues eyes lit up, even as the two men backed as way in surprise.

"Hello Stormer," Mr. Dax said smugly. "Dispose of these two men, will you."

Stormer eyed the two men, and then in a low, gruff voice, said, "No."

Mr. Dax grimaced. "Against with the disobedience. Follow my orders, Preston Stormer."

"I will not kill for you," Stormer said. "You may be my master," he said, emphasizing the word as if it were poison. "But that does not mean I will harm others on your orders."

The men both drew their weapons and aimed at Stormer, and Mr. Dax sighed. "Okay, look, now they're threatening my livelihood. So, like, temporarily detain them or something."

Stormer groaned, but now he was forced to obey. Before either of the two men could fire, Stormer hit them with a blast from his ice gun, freezing them both in solid statues of ice.

Mazhar chuckled. "Given the heat today, that may as well be a favor for them," he said. "They'll be melted free within the hour."

"In which case we will be long gone," Mr. Dax said. "Good job, Stormer. You can deactivate now."

Stormer begrudgingly shrank back into his Hero Core, which Mr. Dax pocketed. He also leaned down and picked up a badge one of the men had dropped. "I see, US Military," he mused. "I thought they were rather out of place. And what's this," he continued, taking a closer look at the fine print. "Extraterrestrial Taskforce? Now that's intriguing. I wonder if they're some of the people we're competing against."

"They may be on to us now," Mazhar said. "Perhaps we need to alter our plans."

"I think it was a chance meeting," Mr. Dax said. "They just happened to be in the area; perhaps they are even after the same core we are. But they didn't recognize us, and they don't know where I'll be staying at. We'll just need to be a bit more careful in the future, in case we encounter them and can't immediately summon our Heroes."

"I did notice your Hero was rather unresponsive," Mazhar pointed out.

"True, he is too willful, and that will cause problems in the future," Mr. Dax agreed. "But that is another reason why I have traveled to this fine city. I have plans to meet up with another who can make these Heroes more… agreeable, as it were."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Samantha groaned and set down her tablet. "This isn't what I signed up to do," she complained. "All these bank statements are totally boring. Don't you have something that can just go through and pick out all the good bits?"

"Yeah, and that something is you," David said. "Don't get discouraged so easily."

"I think I'm seeing some sort of error," Vicki said. "I know I'm not an accountant or anything, but these numbers don't seem to be adding up. Like, they're putting money in but it's not showing up later."

"Ah, that's probably corruption," Dr. Snowden said.

"This data has been corrupted?" Vicki asked, frowning. "Weird."

"Not the data, but the bankers," David said. "They're counting the books, money laundering, and the like. Basically, bank fraud."

"Oh, I get it, they're doing something illegal to hide their money, like in the movies," Vicki said. "Maybe that will have ties to our criminal buddy who's controlling Bulk."

"Bank fraud is not exactly uncommon in Sao Paulo," Dr. Snowden said offhandedly. "In fact, all these banks we're researching have some amounts of bank fraud. It just seems to be a standard practice down here, where corruption is just as widespread."

"Not that our financial systems are all that much better in the States," David added. "They just deal with bigger numbers than folks down here. Besides, the guy controlling Bulk is having him steal money. The criminals behind these instances of bank fraud already have their money, and now they're trying to keep it clean so the authorities can't trace its origins."

"Oh, I see," Samantha said. "That makes sense."

"Actually, what if that is our connection," Vicki asked suddenly. "What if the criminal is stealing from other criminals intentionally? He's sending Bulk to steal from his more successful comrades."

"She has a point," David mused. "There is a political hierarchy in the criminal underworld, and those at the bottom of the rung will hold grudges against those more powerful than them. So what would they do when they sudden gain control of a powerful Hero? They send him out to take a bite out of their competition."

"That's an interesting hypothesis," Dr. Snowden said. "Let's look at it from that angle. Nice work, Miss Kesler."

"Thank you!" Vicki said brightly. "This is so cool, I may have come up with our big break. This is exciting… so exciting I have to pee!" She jumped to her feet. "Please tell me this place has a bathroom."

"Yeah, there's a toilet on the other side of the structure," David said, pointing her in the right direction.

Samantha glared at the various charts on her tablet screen. "So how do I figure out who's behind this banker fraud?" she asked.

"That might be a bit complicated for you," David said. "No offense. But instead maybe you can start looking through police records, and put together a list of well-connected criminals in the city. They may not have been arrested, but there will be files on them either way."

Samantha nodded, and dutifully adjusted her search. At least her new topic was more interesting than banking spreadsheets. She read up on some of the known criminal organizations in Sao Paulo, and was surprised at just how many there were in the region. Indeed, there was a fair amount of competition for criminals in this part of the world.  
The table Samantha was working on trembled, and Samantha looked up. "Earthquake?" she asked. Being from California, she was used to the occasional minor trembler.

"This is a seismically stable region," Dr. Snowden said, looking up. But then they felt another tremble. "I don't think those are earthquakes. It feels more like… footsteps."

"Oh man, is this a Jurassic Park scenario?" David asked, instinctively grabbing his gun. "Are we about to face down a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex?"

"I believe that we already know who are enemy is," Dr. Snowden whispered. "Bulk."

"I'll summon Furno," Samantha said, reaching into her pocket for his core. "He should be repaired by now, and he'll be able to help if there's a situation."

However, before Samantha could activate the core, she heard a loud crash on the far side of the building, followed shortly by a loud shriek from Vicki. Samantha's eyes went wide and she darted towards the voice of her friend, even as David and Dr. Snowden leapt up to stop her. But she didn't get far; the giant Hero Bulk smashed through the wall and confronted them. In one hand, he had Vicki by the neck. "Let me go!" she screamed.

Bulk spoke to them in Portuguese, in a very commanding tone. However, Samantha recognized one word: Furno.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Duncan Bulk," Dr. Snowden said. "I'm afraid we do not understand that language."

Bulk tilted his head and spoke again, this time in English. "I said, give me Furno. You humans have far too many languages, and without even any chips to translate them for you." He paused, and then reaffirmed, "Give me Furno, or this human child will die."

"Don't kill her!" Samantha shouted. "You're supposed to be some sort of Hero; you can't just go around killing civilians."

"Although technically she's not a civilian, since she did sign on to be a junior agent," David put in.

"Don't tell him that!" Vicki shrieked.

"Right," David said. "But still, dude, Hero. No kill girl. Bad idea."

"I have been given the order to destroy Furno, by any means necessary," Bulk said. "Hand Furno over to me and I will not harm any of you."

"And if we don't?" David asked, aiming his gun at Bulk's head.

"Then I start by decapitating her," Bulk said. "Then I'll tear off your arms. Then I will pulverize the second man, and finally finish by crushing the other girl underneath my foot. And then I will be able to take care of Furno as I please."

"Okay, okay, you win," Samantha said, holding up her Hero Core. "This is Furno. I'll slide him to you, and then you can let Vicki go. Sound fair."

"I find those terms agreeable," Bulk said.

"No, Samantha, don't do it!" Vicki said.

"Don't worry, Vicki, everything will be alright," Samantha said, sliding the Hero Core across the floor, where it ended up next to Bulk's foot. "Now, release my friend."

Bulk shrugged and tossed Vicki to the side, and then reached down to grab the core. But as soon as Vicki was free from Bulk's grasp, Samantha shouted, "Furno, activate, now!"

Furno's core activated and Bulk backed up in surprise. This delayed him just long enough for Furno to completely form, and then he proceeded to tackle Bulk, throwing him back into the rubble of the wall.

"Nice one, Samantha," Vicki said, as she stumbled over. "Now what?"

"Now we make our escape while Furno distracts Bulk," Samantha said.

"Excellent idea," David agreed. "Dr. Snowy, take the girls and get to the car. I just need to grab a couple of things first."

Samantha and Vicki didn't need further encouragement and they bolted for the door, with Dr. Snowden right behind them. David followed, but he made one quick detour by the desk, where he grabbed his spare ammunition and the extra Hero Core.

As they raced outside the building, Dr. Snowden yelled, "Get into the truck. We need to get moving. We can contact Yolanda on the road."

Vicki stopped short of the vehicle, and pointed to the slashed tires. "Bulk made sure we wouldn't get away in that," she said.

"Damn, that Hero's thorough," Dr. Snowden complained. "At the very least, we can get in touch with Yolanda through the radio."

David came running out behind them. "Furno is keeping him occupied for now, but we need to get moving…" he started, but suddenly he caught sight of shapes moving in the adjacent building. "Ambush! Look out!"

David grabbed Dr. Snowden and pulled him behind the truck just as the ben in the building opened fire, spraying the ground with bullets. Samantha and Vicki managed to dive behind a half built wall just in time, and the bullets missed them.

"Damn it, they have us pinned down," David said, gripping his gun. "We're in some serious trouble."

"Well, let's use these," Samanatha said, pulling up her sleeve to touch her tracking bracelet. "Isn't there a distress button on these?"

"Yes, there is," Dr. Snowden said. "But although the response time is good in the states, it'll be useless out of the country."

"But won't Yolanda get notified?" Vicki asked.

"Not necessarily," David shouted back. "The distress signal will get transfer first to our California office, and it could take them hours to get through to Yolanda." He tapped on his. "We can try it, but it won't do any good."

Samantha and Vicki quickly tapped their bracelets, but ducked down further as bullets struck the wall they were hiding behind. David turned to them and shouted, "Run that direction; there's an escape route that way."

"What about you?" Samantha called back.

"We'll hold out for now," David said. "But you need to get away, now!" He glanced back at the safe house just in time to see Bulk emerge.

"I will crush all of you!" the silver Hero shouted.

"Actually, you're finished with me." Bulk glanced back just in time to see Furno reappear. Furno grabbed Bulk's arm and flung him back into the building, causing him to crash through multiple walls. Bulk stood up and brushed the debris off him, only to see Furno charging again. Furno tackled him full on and pushed the two of them through the wall and down the hill. The two of them landed in the construction yard, where Furno got to his feet and summoned his sword.

Bulk cracked his knuckles. "Ready for one last round, Furno?"

"Bring it!" Furno said, charging forward again. He ignited his blade and slashed at Bulk, engulfing him in fire. But the fire did little damage to Bulk, who took a swing at the Hero of Fire. But Furno was faster than him, and ducked beneath the blow and slashed at him again.

Back up on the hill, Samantha and Vicki had taken Furno's attack as a chance to escape. Samantha felt horrible for leaving David and Dr. Snowden pinned down in a fire fight, but there was nothing she could do to help. At the moment, they needed to find some way to call for help and reinforcements.

Samantha didn't see the man until she turned the corner and nearly ran into him. The man stepped back and shouted at her in Portuguese, but Samantha was more focused on the machine gun he was holding. If he used that on her, she'd be toast. But she was in close range, so she could do something about it.

Before she had even fully decided on her move, Samantha was throwing her fist. She caught the man by surprise in his face, and he started to topple backwards. Samantha grabbed at his gun as he fell, and managed to pull it from his grasp.

But the man was not alone, and his comrade caught sight of Samantha. He turned to raise his machine gun at her, but she was already spinning around and brought up her foot. She struck the gun and threw off the man's aim, and his first shot was fired into the darkness. But he was already correcting his aim, and Samantha was still following through on her kick and couldn't strike him again quickly enough.

But Samantha wasn't alone either. Vicki came racing out of the darkness and tackled the second man. Or at least she tried to. The force of her collision caused the man top stumble, and he dropped his weapon but remained on his feet. With a great shove, he pushed Vicki off of him, and reached down on his belt for another weapon. But Samantha had recovered, and she leapt up into a high kick and brought her foot into the man's chest, throwing him backwards into the stone wall.

Samantha turned to see that the first man was up, and he swung his fist at her. Samantha blocked it with her arm, and then threw in a jab herself. The two soon engaged in a furious fist fight. Samantha has speed and technique on her side, but the man's strength still exceeded her own, and she was barely able to hold out against him.

Meanwhile, Vicki picked up one of the fallen machine guns, and approached the second man. "Are you down now?' she asked, but then shrieked as he started to rise. Impulsively, Vicki rammed the butt of the machine gun down and struck the man on the head, knocking him unconscious.

Vicki couldn't help but smile at her small victory, but turned to see more shadows approaching down the trail towards her. "Maybe they need a taste of their own medicine," she said, taking aim with the machine gun. But when she pulled the trigger, the kickback from the first shot was more than she expected. The force threw her backwards, and the gun angled upwards, shooting each subsequent bullet higher and higher into the air. However, this did manage to spook the men on the trail, who quickly fell back.

The first man threw a punch, and Samantha moved to block him. But his attempt had been a feign, and he managed to get a solid blow to Samantha's gut, knocking her down to her knees. Before she could retaliate, he reached down and tightened his grip around her throat.

"No!" Samantha gasped. She tried to pry his hands off her throat, but he was too strong, and Samantha was weakening as her airway got blocked. She wasn't able to break free, at least not with her arms. But her legs were unpinned, and she got a sudden idea. She kicked up her knee and caught the man painfully in the groin. He winced in pain and released Samantha's throat, and she fell back onto the ground. But the man wasn't done yet; he drew out a dagger and prepared to sink it into Samantha's chest.

But he didn't get the chance. Vicki came up behind him and slammed her machine gun into the back of his head, and the force of the blow knocked him unconscious. He tipped forward, and Samantha had to quickly roll out of the way to keep from getting crushed by his falling body.

"Thanks for the save," Samantha said, her throat still raw.

"No worries," Vicki said. But for all her bravo, Samantha could see that she was still shaking in fear. "What now? There are men down that path; we can't go that way."

Samantha turned to see that the shadowed figures were starting to advance again. Luckily, in the darkness they couldn't make out the two girls well enough to get off a shot, but that would change as they closed in. "We need to circle back," Samantha said, grabbing Vicki's arm. "Quickly."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

David and Dr. Snowden were still pinned down behind their truck by gunfire. David occasionally leaned out and fired back, but he was aiming blindly. The gunmen were well concealed in the building, and David couldn't get a precise location on any of them.

"Have any more resourceful plans to pull off?" Dr. Snowden asked.

"Not at the moment, but I'm keeping my options opened," David said. "I take it this is your first firefight, Doctor."

"It is quite different than in war games," Dr. Snowden agreed.

"I wish we'd had a chance to grab some more of our weapons," David grumbled, reloading his gun. "I'm running through bullets quite fast."

"So a plan before you run dry would be useful," Dr. Snowden said.

"I might have one" David said, pulling out the spare Hero Core. "Have you tested yourself on this one, Doctor?"

"No, Captain Ricardo never gave me permission to see if I could activate a Hero Core…" Dr. Snowden started.

"Permission granted," David said, tossing it to him. "Test it out."

"What do I do?" Dr. Snowden asked.

"Hell if I know. Feel it up."

Dr. Snowden gripped the Hero Core and remembered Yolanda activating hers by pressing the H. He did so now, but nothing happened. "It didn't work," he said.

"Go figure," David said. "Okay, next idea. I'll lay cover fire and you sprint for the wall and go after the girls."

"And you'll be right behind me?" Dr. Snowden asked.

"No, odds are I'll be making my stand here," David said. "But if you guys can escape, then it'll still be a net win." He paused and gripped his gun. "Get ready to run."

David leaned out on the far side of the truck and opened fire. This drew the fire of the gunmen for Dr. Snowden to run the uncovered distance between the truck and half-finished wall. But as he took his first step, he saw two figures appear along the trail, and fell back.

"What's wrong?" David asked, and then shouted out in pain. One of the bullets ricocheted and hit his thigh, causing him to hit the ground in pain. Dr. Snowden pulled him back behind the cover of the truck and turned to the two newcomers, who he now saw were Samantha and Vicki.

"What are you doing back here?" Dr. Snowden asked incredulously. "You were told to flee."

"Yeah, except they've blocked that route," Samantha responded, ducking low as bullets continued to fly. "They're going to have some more folks coming up behind us any minute now."

"We're trapped," Dr. Snowden said. He looked down at David's leg. "And you've been shot!"

David clenched his jaw due to the pain. "I'll make due for now," he said. "Let's just make this a last stand to be remembered." He eyed the girls, and noticed that Vicki was carrying something. "Where'd you get the machine gun?" he asked.

"Borrowed it from one of the men, but he'll probably be asking for it back soon," Vicki answered.

"Toss it over here," David shouted.

Samantha nodded and took the weapon from Vicki. She threw it across the exposed region, and David managed to catch it on their end. "This might even up the odds a bit," he said.

"Agent Jocosus, your leg," Dr. Snowden said. "You can't…"

"Oh, I so totally can!" David yelled, forcing himself to stand up and lean around the edge of the car. He opened fire, spraying the windows in the building with bullets, and it was enough to cause most of the gunmen to duck for cover.

Samantha heard footsteps approaching from behind. "They're coming up here!" she shouted.

"The girls gave us a weapon, now it's time to return the favor," David said, taking cover momentarily. "Snowy, throw her the spare Hero Core. Samantha may have better luck activating it."

Dr. Snowden was about to toss the Hero Core, but flinched as a stray bullet passed overhead. His throw fell short, and the Hero Core landed in the exposed pathway between the truck and the wall.

"Oh no, now what are we going to do?" Vicki asked, but she turned to see Samantha was already crouching down.

"Give me some cover fire," she shouted.

"Got it," David said, and opened fire again with the machine gun. As there was a lull in enemy fire, Samantha sprinted out and snatched up the Hero Core. She slid on the ground as the gunmen opened fire on her again, but managed to get safely behind the truck. However, even though she was pressing down on the core, nothing happened.

"I'm not a match either," she said. She got up. "One last shot at this. Vicki, catch!"

Samantha threw the Hero Core towards her friend. Vicki reached up to grab it, but it sailed passed her reach and hit the ground behind her. She turned and reached down to grab it, but then the men caught up. She fell backwards, with the core in hand, as the men aimed their weapons at her. "Please don't kill me!" she cried, gripping the Hero Core like a shield. Her eyes were closed in fright, so she didn't even see the core start to turn purple.

But the men saw it, and lowered their weapons in surprise. The core started expanding now, and Vicki dropped it in shock. Arms and legs began to form, with bright yellow armor. After a few moments, a new Hero stood between Vicki and the gunmen.

"She did it!" Samantha said breathlessly. "Vicki activated a Hero!"

The Hero looked around, slightly confused, and started speaking in his native language, likely questioning its surroundings. But the gunmen had recovered from their surprise, and opened fire on the Hero, but the bullets bounced off harmlessly.

The Hero narrowed his eyes, and reached out to grab the gun out of the hands of the nearest man. He took the barrel and squeezed, crunching the metal between his fingers. The gunman's eyes went wide at this, but the Hero wasn't done yet, as he backhanded the men and threw him back into his comrades, knocking them down like bowling pins.

With the immediate threat neutralized, the Hero turned to see Vicki sprawled out behind it. It narrowed its eyes again and questioned her, but Vicki instantly threw her hands into the air. "Please don't hurt me!" she cried out.

Before the Hero could continue, bullets started striking him in the head. Annoyed, he turned to the building where the gunmen were now turning their fire on him. He held out his arm and activated a large blaster, but when he tried to fire, nothing happened. He spoke again, questioning why his weapon was malfunctioning, but then more bullets rained down on him. The Hero held out his other arm and summoned a shield, similar to Furno's, and used it to block the lead projectiles.

Vicki, meanwhile, crawled over to Samantha and the others behind the cover of the truck. The yellow Hero took note of this, and repositioned himself to better deflect the bullets away from them.

"He's protecting us!" Samantha whispered. "But he might change his mind if he sees you have weapons too. Throw your gun away."

"Look, I'm just going to set it down," David said, wincing from his wound. Dr. Snowden ripped the sleeve off his shirt and began wrapping it around his leg to stop the bleeding.

"Now what do we do?" Vicki asked.

"We hope they run out of bullets before we run out of time," David said grimly.

Meanwhile, Furno and Bulk were still locked in battle. Furno had hoped that his moves and elemental powers would give him an edge, but Bulk's armor was just too strong and immune to his fire. And although Furno's agility helped him avoid the majority of Bulk's punches, he still couldn't dodge them all, and he had dents in his armor where Bulk had landed powerful blows. Furno didn't know how much longer he could hold out against this former Hero, but he was going to push it for as long as he could.

Bulk charged yet again, and Furno rushed to meet him. He swung his sword, but he aimed lower this time, at Bulk's legs. He managed to strike Bulk, and although he didn't cause any serious damage, Bulk tripped and fell face first into the ground. He pushed up, annoyed, but Furno took the chance to circle around him and stabbed his flaming sword into Bulk's back. Or at least tried to; Bulk's armor held out yet again.

"Getting desperate, are we, Furno?" Bulk asked. "This will be over as soon as you surrender and let me destroy you."

"Negotiations were never your strong suit," Furno countered. "I've had villains offer more convincing arguments for my destruction than that."

"Then just hold still!" Bulk shouted, throwing more daggers at Furno. He swung his sword and parried most of them, but one jammed into his leg. Furno tried to move, but his leg collapsed from underneath him and he fell over.

"Much better," Bulk said, slowly walking over to the fallen Hero. "Now I can do this properly."

"There's just one thing… you've forgotten about,' Furno gasped.

"And that it?" Bulk asked, standing over Furno.

"That you're still susceptible to fall for the fake injury routine," Furno yelped out. He leapt up, grabbing the dagger than he had been impaled with and stabbing it into Bulk's chest.

Bulk took the blow and fell backwards himself. As he got to his feet, he looked down to see that his own dagger had partially penetrated his armor.

"So that's what I can use to crack that shell of yours," Furno said thoughtfully. "Do you have any more I could borrow? Perhaps you could toss them to me. Don't worry, I'm pretty good at catching things."

Bulk's anger flared up again, and he startled hurtling dagger after dagger at Furno. Furno knocked aside a few, and then snatched one out of the air and threw it back. Bulk shielded his face with his arm, and the dagger got embedded in his shoulder.

"Guess you're not tough stuff after all," Furno said mockingly. "Can't even protect yourself from your own weapons."

Bulk turned around and started walking away, and Furno followed. "Giving up so soon? After, what a couple of minor hits? Are you that much of a wimp now?"

However, Bulk wasn't through yet. On the end of the construction yard was a small crane, and he placed his hand on its metal support. Suddenly, the entire structure of the crane started moving and shifting. Furno took a step back, realizing that Bulk was using his elemental powers to manipulate metal. The crane formed into a giant hammer, with the majority of the metal transitioning up to form the head. Bulk gave the handle a shove and it started to fall towards Furno, who quickly darted away. He jumped aside just as the hammer crashed down, causing a mighty tremor. But that wasn't the last of Bulk's attack; as the hammer struck the ground, its head splintered into a thousand metal shards, which rained down on Furno. Furno positioned his shield to take the brunt of the attack, but the metal shards still managed to jab into his joints, thoroughly damaging them.

Furno struggled to stand up, but now his movements were severely slowed. He could hardly move as Bulk approached, summoning yet another dagger as he did so.

"Any last words, Furno?" he asked.

"Like something along the lines of 'You don't have the right to call me brother'?" Furno asked.

Bulk blinked. "I suppose those would work."

"Well, I've got something even better then," Furno said, and a small grin passed across his helmet. "Watch out for sister; she's angry."

Bulk paused to consider these words, and didn't even notice the boomerang flying towards him until it struck him on the head. He turned, but Breez was already there, and she delivered a kick to his torso that threw him back ten feet.

"Need some assistance?" Breez asked.

"Maybe, if you're interested in combining some elemental energies," Furno suggested. "Just like that time in Quadrant Zeta."

Breez nodded, and lifted up her hand. Winds started blowing around Bulk, until they formed a funnel cloud around him. However, Bulk merely laughed. "Your winds won't defeat me, Breez," he called out.

But then Furno ignited his sword, and a rush of flame entered the cyclone. The wind whipped up the flame, creating a towering circle of fire around Bulk. Breez concentrated and tightened the cyclone, pinning Bulk inside the inferno.

The air was filled with Bulk's screams, and the cyclone began to dissipate. But as the flames cleared, Breez and Furno could still see that Bulk was standing. However, his armor had now been superheated, and they could tell he was feeling the pain.

"This… this isn't over, Furno," he stammered. "There will be a next time." Then, without glancing back, he turned and ran into the darkness.

"We need to go after him," Furno said, but his joints seized up as he tried to step forward.

"Nex has that covered," Breez said. "Meanwhile, your master and her companions are in peril."

Samantha and the others were still pinned down behind their truck, which was now riddled with bullet holes. Luckily, they were still being protected by the yellow Hero, who was using his entire body as a shield. However, the gunmen had noticed that the yellow Hero had no long range weapons, so they pressed in closer, trying to increase the damage. But they found that if they got too close, the Hero would merely grab them and fling them off into the darkness, so they still kept their distance.

David glanced around the truck, wincing in pain as Dr. Snowden applied rudimentary first air to his leg. "We're at a stalemate right now," he said. "But eventually that'll get broken. We need to do something."

"We've got nowhere to run to," Samantha pointed out. "And you wouldn't make it very far on that leg anyway. We need to hold out for help to arrive."

"Yeah, but we never got a call out for help before this began," Dr. Snowden pointed out. "I think we're on our own."

"Um, guys," Vicki said, her voice rising a pitch. "What's that?"

David glanced around and saw a man on the roof of the building, with something resting on his shoulder. He cursed and said, "That's a hand held rocket launcher. I don't think the Hero can defend against that."

"Then shoot him down with your gun!" Samantha said.

"He's out of range," David said dejectedly. "Well, guys and gals, it was fun while it lasted."

However, before the man could fire his missile, a streak of green light crossed the sky and stuck him down. Suddenly, more green streaks filled the sky, and resulted in energy blasts on various gunmen. Those who weren't hit drew back, unsure of what was happening. The yellow Hero glanced up too, and said something in his odd language. But Samantha recognized one word: Nex.

Headlights filled up the road as a truck came barreling down. It came to a halt and Yolanda and Adam jumped out, guns in hand. Meanwhile, Samantha heard something from behind them and turned to see Breez and Furno approaching. Breez threw her boomerang at the building, causing the men to scatter. In a matter of moments, all the gunmen were either knocked out or retreating.

Yolanda lowered her weapon as the last of the gunmen fled and turned to Samantha and the others. "Anybody need some help here?" she asked.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"I want everything that we can salvage packed into this truck in the next ten minutes," Yolanda commanded. "If we can't take it with us, I want it destroyed; thoroughly destroyed. Breez, I want you on point, making sure those men don't return for a second round. Erez, Adam, get to moving stuff now." She turned and sighted the yellow Hero. "And who the hell are you?"

"Hold up!" Vicki yelped, throwing herself between the Hero and Yolanda. "This is the Hero that just saved our lives. We would've been Swiss cheese without him… her… it."

"You summoned another Hero to our side?" Yolanda asked. "Who's the master?"

"I am," Vicki said confidently.

Yolanda grimaced. "Great, another teenager with a pet robot. Why couldn't it have been Dr. Snowden?"

Dr. Snowden, meanwhile, was helping David into the car. "We have a man down," he said. "He's been shot, and I don't have the equipment necessary even if our hideout hadn't been trashed. We need to get him to a hospital."

"I'm fine, Doctor," David insisted. "I mean, yeah I could use some extra medical attention, but this isn't life threatening or anything. I'll deal."

"You got shot?" Adam asked, observing David's dressed wound. "You do realize that makes you the first to take a bullet on a mission between the two of us."

"First, there were a lot of bullets going around, and this one was merely an unlucky ricochet," David pointed out. "Secondly, that was not an accurate statement. I seem to remember a certain somebody getting shot in the foot once before."

"That was a weapon malfunction during training," Adam said defensively. "Doesn't count."

Meanwhile, Samantha turned to Furno, who she could see was heavily damaged. "Are you okay? Did you take care of Bulk?"

"Well, we caused him to retreat, if that's worth anything," Furno said. "But he's still at large." He looked up and caught sight of the yellow Hero. "Well, well, I see you managed to activate Evo."

The yellow Hero spun around and sighted the two other Heroes. "Furno, Breez!" he exclaimed.

"How is your language chip operating?" Breez asked.

"I think it's kicking in," Evo said. He turned to the humans. "Can you understand me?"

"Yes, now we can," Vicki said. "Hi, my name is Vicki. Thank you for saving me earlier. What's your name?"

"Nathan Evo, code name Evo, elemental Hero of water, of the Beta Team of Hero Factory," Evo said. "But there's so much I don't understand. Furno, Breez, why are you here? Is Nex nearby? What happened to Stormer and the others? Where is Von Nebula?"

"Slow down there, Hero," Furno said. "That's a long story." He tried to move his arm, but his joints malfunctioned and it fell limply at his side. "Well, that's going to take a while to repair."

"I can help you with that, sir," Evo said. "I'll just need some basic equipment and…"

"There is actually a better way," Breez interrupted. "Furno, perhaps it is best if you deactivate for now to speed up your repairs."

Furno nodded. "Take good care of these kids while I'm out," he said, and then shrunk back into his core.

"What… Furno… did he just…" Evo stuttered.

"It's an offshoot of the miniaturization project, and not in a good way," Breez said. "Let me explain."

Breez pulled Evo over and started telling him all the information they had gathered together. Samantha moved to help Erez, Adam, and Dr. Snowden gather equipment, but Yolanda pulled her and Vicki over. "What just happened here?" she demanded.

"We were ambushed, okay," Samantha said defensively. "It's not like I was trying to do anything."

Yolanda took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. Please, tell me how you guys came under fire?"

"How did you even know to come back and help us?" Vicki asked.

"Nex has been leading us all over the city, following Bulk's trail," Yolanda explained. "But then she happened across a fresh sighting that headed towards our base of operations, and with her senses she detected the gunfire. We rushed over as soon as we could."

"Where is Nex?" Samantha asked, as she hadn't seen the orange Hero arrive.

"Currently, she's keeping track of our silver friend," Yolanda said. "But how did he find you here?"

"We don't know," Vicki said. "Maybe he could also sense the radiation, or maybe he'd already followed us from earlier?" Between her and Samantha, they described the fight they had just been through.

Yolanda nodded. "It appears that Bulk did get away, but now Nex is actively tracking him, so we'll know right where he is," she said. "However, we must now surmise how to defeat him."

"We haven't made any connections on his master yet, either," Samantha admitted. "Although I think we were getting somewhere just before the attack."

"Well, one step at a time, I suppose," Yolanda said. "You two go help get the rest of our equipment. I'm afraid we're going to have to move back to the military base by the airport; our operation here has been too far compromised." She glanced over and sighted one of the fallen gunmen moving. "Although, while we're here, we might as well gather some intelligence."

The man was slowly regaining consciousness, but when he finally opened his eyes he saw Yolanda pointing a pistol at his face. "Talk," she said. "Tell me who you're working for."

The man started speaking very quickly in Portuguese, with a frightened tone. Yolanda shook her head. "Slow down. Do you speak English?"

The man continues speaking rapidly, and Yolanda pulled back the safety. "Let's keep this simple," she said. "Your boss. Who? Give me a name."

The man's face went pale. "Mar… Marcello," he finally stuttered.

"Well, I guess that technically is a name," Yolanda said. "But I'll need more than that. Where can I find him?"

"Wait, that name, it's familiar," Samantha said. "It was on a list I was reading; a list of known mafia in Sao Paulo. Marcello was some kind of leader."

"Intriguing," Yolanda mused. She turned back to the man. "Thank you for your cooperation, for what it was worth." With that, she pulled the trigger.

Samantha yelped as the man went limp. "Why did you…" she started.

"Tranquilizer dart," Yolanda said, storing her gun away. "He'll be out for six hours, maybe more depending on his body mass index. I've already put a call in; the Sao Paulo police will be out here momentarily to collect the fallen gunmen. We need to be gone before they arrived."

"And then what?" Samantha asked.

"We have a name," Yolanda said. "That's a start."

OoOoOoOoO

Mazhar entered the luxurious building. The living room was nice and spacious, with high windows to allow for an exquisite view of the Istanbul cityscape. The architecture was designed to allow for natural light, and the whole room had a glow to it, even in the dimming sunlight. But, to Mazhar's disappointment, it was empty.

He wandered into the bedroom and heard a shriek. Miss Seychell had been leaning back in a chair, and hadn't expected anyone to enter the room suddenly.

"Mr. Mazhar," she yelped as she recognized him. "You could've at least knocked."

"I had a key?" Mazhar said gruffly. "Where's the kid?"

Miss Seychell sighed and gestured to the bed, where Gerald was passed out. "We just got off a long flight," she said. "And that little creep has finally passed out, so I was just starting to relax when you barged in."

In truth, Miss Seychell had been rather unhappy to be on the private flight with Gerald at all. She detested the boy, who had been leering at her the whole time. At one point, he had tried to get her to drink in order for her to open up more. However, that plan had backfired on him, for while Miss Seychell was an experienced drinker who could hold her liquor, Gerald was not. After his second drink, he has become groggy and passed out as soon as they arrived at their room.

"What do you want?" she snapped at Mazhar. She was ready to get some rest soon, as looking after her boss's drunken kid had drained her more than usual.

"Mr. Dax said that we had a further excursion after our time in Istanbul," Mazhar stated. "And that you would be able to provide the details. I have had enough of his last minute flight changes; I want to know our itinerary now."

"I will fill you in later," Miss Seychell said with a wave of her hand. "Now get out."

"When I said now, I meant now," Mazhar said. "I will not have you dismiss me."

"Very well," Miss Seychell said, conceding. "Tomorrow morning, Mr. Dax has a scheduled appointment in the city. If that goes according to plan, we will be on a flight tomorrow afternoon destined for Japan."

"Japan?" Mazhar asked, frowning. "Why Japan?"

"He will be there for an event hosted by the Duter Institute," Miss Seychell responded

Mazhar frowned. "Isn't the Duter Institute a major rival of Mirai Tech?"

"Yes, but this event is a fundraiser," Miss Seychell said. "Mr. Dax was invited and graciously accepted their invitation," she said, adding, "Even if he's not exactly friends with Mr. Duter himself."

"Is this another one of those silly attempts to keep up a public appearance?" Mazhar asked. "Those are unnecessary; he needs to be worried about these Hero Cores."

"You would think that way, wouldn't you?" Miss Seychell muttered, narrowing her eyes. "Do you not remember that there was supposed to be a Hero Core in that region?"

"Oh so he's going to retrieve that and attend this fundraiser at the same time," Mazhar said. "Multitasking. Impressive."

"Do you need anything more from me?" she asked Mazhar acidly.

"I would like to know exactly when to book my itinerary…" he started.

"Mr. Dax has already had me take care of your tickets," Miss Seychell said. "Now, if that is all, please leave, now."

The door opened again, and this time Mr. Dax entered the bedroom. "Ah, Mazhar, Nadia, there you are," he said. He raised an eyebrow as he sighted his sun. "And Gerald is…"

"Not able to hold his liquor very well," Miss Seychell said curtly. "Now would you tell this buffoon to get lost?"

"Ah, but Mazhar is staying with us here," Mr. Dax said. "It was cheaper to book multiple rooms here than find a less exquisite location for him."

"Don't care about the looks of the place," Mazhar said gruffly. "Just point me to the nearest minibar."

"It should be on the far end of the living room," Mr. Dax said. As Mazhar left the room, he turned to Miss Seychell and asked, "So, how was your flight over?"

"I've had better experiences on cheaper airlines," Miss Seychell said.

"Then you shouldn't have allowed me son to drink," Mr. Dax said, rolling his eyes. "I've allowed him to indulge in alcohol before, in moderation, but if he drinks too much…"

"Oh, he was worse before the alcohol," Miss Seychell snipped. "I did not appreciate the way he ogled me for the entire flight, and if you reduce me to babysitting your brat for this entire trip…"

Mr. Dax help up his hands. "I apologize, I didn't realize Gerald would be as disrespectful as that," he said. "I assure you, I will have a talk with him tomorrow. You should not have to put up with that kind of behavior on this trip."

"I don't know whose worse, your son or your hired muscle," Miss Seychell grumbled.

"I do have less control over Mazhar," Mr. Dax admitted. "But he's a simple man, and if his needs are met, he's utterly loyal. Perhaps this will make up for some of it." He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Miss Seychell, who hesitantly accepted the Hero Core.

"Where did you get this?" she asked.

"Managed to track down a local vendor who came across it shortly after it landed," Mr. Dax said. "I paid him five times what he was asking for it, and he was asking for a lot. He'll be a happy man now. Now, Mazhar was less happy to drive through the boroughs of Istanbul, so that's why he's probably more irritable than usual right now."

Miss Seychell observed it in her hands, and noticed the V emblem on the front. "This is not one of the Hero Cores," she said.

"Indeed, it is more similar to Bruizer's core," Mr. Dax said. "And, based on what I know of the creature inside it, I believe you two would be a good fit."

Miss Seychell reached to tap the V, but Mr. Dax shook his head. "Probably a better idea to do that when you're not indoors," he said. "This one is known to be a bit destructive, and it would be a shame to cause any damage to this beautiful architecture."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Okay, let us go over what we know," Yolanda said.

"Can't we do this later?" Erez asked, resting his head on the table. "We've been up all night, and the sun is just now coming up. Maybe we could get some sleep."

"I don't know, I'm not that sleepy," Samantha said. Indeed, the adrenaline from the conflict earlier in the night was still keeping her awake and energized. Although she felt rather drained, she knew that sleep would not come easily to her at the moment.

"We have a small window of opportunity," Yolanda said. "Nex is still out tailing Bulk, so for now we know exactly where he is. But she may not be able to keep an eye on him forever, so we need a plan before she loses him."

Yolanda looked around the table at her team. They had relocated to an empty hanger at the military airport after losing their safe house closer to the city. Erez was sleepy, and Samantha and Vicki were awake but very worn down. David, meanwhile, was propped up in a chair. When they had returned to the base, Dr. Snowden had started treating him in their medical facilities. The bullet had pierced his thigh, but not too deeply, and it had missed any nerves. He had it bandaged up and his legs propped up in a brace, so he could still walk, albeit only slowly. Meanwhile, Adam and Dr. Snowden sat back in their chairs, also tired but attentive. Behind them stood Breez and Evo. Furno was still recovering in his core, and Nex was out in the field.

"So what do we know about this Marcello character?" Yolanda asked.

Dr. Snowden glanced down at his tablet. "He is an up and coming mobster," he reported. "Marcello has been in the area for a long time, but only recently began to rise due to weapons trading, and he's starting to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld."

"Weapons trading; that would explain why his men were so well armed tonight," David mused.

"Marcello is, however, still a minor crime boss," Dr. Snowden continued. "He has clashed with some of the larger criminal organizations in this city previously, and has not walked away without damage, both to his men and his reputation. But what is striking is that many of the men he has quarrels with were money laundering through the various banks that have been robbed."

"So that's the connection," David supplied. "The bad guy was striking back against other bad guys."

"He found a shiny new Hero and is putting him to use to gain power in the Sao Paulo criminal world," Adam said with a nod. "Clever. I'd even say let him continue on as he will, except he keeps risking civilians."

"Not to mention that we're also a target for him now," Yolanda said. "We're better protected at this base, but that also means we've lost the anonymity we had while operating out of the safe house. For now, the Brazilian military does not know we have active Heroes here, but that ignorance won't last for long."

"Marcello's base of operations remains unknown," Dr. Snowden continued. "However, if Bulk returned, Nex would be able to identify his location."

"Marcello needs to be neutralized, but he is not the immediate threat," Yolanda said. "So far, we have been unable to defeat the Hero Bulk." She nodded to Breez. "Any explanations?"

"Bulk was a member of our elite Alpha Team," Breez said. "He was never a tactical genius, but his strength and armor were the best. Although he has been fooled in the field before, he has never lost in combat. And he was never defeated in Hero training exercises either. His element is metal, which makes his especially durable, and resistive to most of our other elements, such as fire, ice, and even electricity, which he could divert through his shell without sustaining serious damage."

"So we have no weapons that can hurt him," David summed up. "And we saw that bullets didn't quite do the trick. I'd suggest using some missile launchers of our own, but if he can withstand a fire tornado, I think those won't do much either."

Breez nodded. "Logically, the best method would be to wear him down until he depleted his energy reserves. However, Bulk has amazing stamina, and he could last longer than any of us, even if we fought him in waves."

"Come on, the guy can't just be unbeatable," Samantha said. "He must have some sort of weakness."

"Actually, he does," Evo chirped in. "Bulk doesn't like water."

"Water?" Breez repeated.

"He never challenged me in elemental combat," Evo pointed out. "And he's avoided missions to aqueous worlds. I believe that it's because water is his weakness. It would slow him down, and diminish his strength. Not to mention that he wouldn't be able to breathe."

"Wait, you can breathe?" Vicki asked. "But you're robots, you don't have lungs."

"We do not breathe as you do," Breez explained. "But we are able to intake gaseous molecules like oxygen and extract energy from them for internal powering. If we are cut off from the air, our power levels diminish quickly."

"Unless we've been enhanced for aqueous environments," Evo added. "Like me; I can extract oxygen from liquid dihydrogen monoxide and use it for internal powering."

"You can breathe underwater," Erez translated.

"Precisely," Evo said. "Not all Heroes have that, and Bulk especially didn't work that in. Luckily, Furno and I have been enhanced to survive underwater."

"Furno can go underwater?" Samantha asked. "But wouldn't that extinguish his fire?"

"Well, yeah, but Furno's always pushing himself to the extremes," Evo said, beaming. "He's insisted on learning how to fight in an environment that would normally diminish his usefulness. He's such a great role model."

"And someone is bit much of an admirer," Breez stated. "It's no wonder that Furno is always so full of himself."

"So that could be the beginning of a plan," Dr. Snowden said. "If we get Bulk trapped in a water environment, he'll be weakened, and Furno and Evo could press their advantages."

"Especially since Evo's the Hero of water," Vicki said. "He can just blast Bulk over and over again until he's too wet to fight."

Evo looked to the ground. "Except I am no longer the Hero of Water. My elemental powers have failed me since arriving in this world."

"Or it could be that you don't have your elemental crystal," Samantha pointed out. When she received some blank stares, she quickly retold the story of how they had retrieved Furno's elemental crystal.

"It does appear to be missing," Evo said, checking his Hero Core.

"So you don't have water powers?" Yolanda asked.

"No, but I am still equipped to fight underwater," Evo said. "I just can't control it."

"That will still be an advantage to our side," Breez put in.

"Then I think we have the rough idea for a plan," Yolanda said, rubbing her hands together. "Now let's hash this out and find a way to make it work."

OoOoOoOoO

Gerald sat in the back seat of the car as Mazhar drove him and his father into downtown Istanbul. "Why didn't Miss Seychell come with us?" he asked.

"She is busy getting to know her new friend," Mr. Dax replied. "Meanwhile, I have an acquaintance I would like to introduce you to. And there is also business to discuss."

Gerald frowned. He had been informed of his father's new hunt for the Hero Cores, and knew almost everything his father knew about them. However, he still didn't know what they were so important. Yes, it was cool to have a personal robot servant to obey your every need, but Mr. Dax kept going on as if the Heroes would yield endless profits for his company. But Gerald couldn't see where the money was to be made.

"Here will be good, Mazhar," Mr. Dax said, gesturing for the car to be stopped. "Please stay with the vehicle. Gerald, if you will."

Gerald joined his father as they walked through a narrow alleyway between two stone buildings. Gerald was curious as to where they were going, but was surprised to see an older man waiting for them. He had a large, grey beard and wore a large pair of glasses. He tipped his hat as they arrived and said with a German accent, "Guten tag, Herr Dax."

"This is the dude we were meeting?" Gerald asked.

"Indeed it is," Mr. Dax said. "Gerald, this is Victor Ness. Victor, my son."

"An honor," Mr. Ness said. "If you will follow me, I already have a room prepared."

The three of them entered through a side door into a small storage room with a single table in the center. Mr. Ness pulled some seats out from the side and offered them to his guests, and then closed the door. The room darkened, as there was only a small lamp providing light. The air was hot and stuffy, and Gerald shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"So tell me, Terrance, how has your hunt gone so far?" Mr. Ness asked.

"We have retrieved four cores, including one I purchases just this morning," Mr. Dax replied. "But we have been made aware that others have also found some, and are already using them."

"Indeed," Mr. Ness said. "I have been able to determine that, of the twelve cores that arrived on this planet, all have been claimed. And at the moment, all of them have been activated… save one." Mr. Ness eyed Mr. Dax thoughtfully. "And it is in this very room right now, is it not?"

"Who is this guy?" Gerald asked, taken aback. "How does he know so much? Is he an employee of yours?"

Mr. Ness chuckled. "I am not a formal employee of your papa, Master Dax. But an alliance has been forged by those with the resources… and those with the knowledge."

"And which one would you be?" Gerald asked.

"The mystic eye lets me see much," Mr. Ness said. "I see what is and what is not, and how the two shall come together to merge our realities."

"Did he just transition back to another language?" Gerald asked.

"I'm a psychic, young lad," Mr. Ness insisted. "Let you not forget that."

"Psychic?" Gerald repeated. "And you're taking him seriously, Dad?"

"I didn't, until he offered me the first Hero Core," Mr. Dax said, pulling it from his pocket. "It transforms into a robot named Stormer, who wields the power of ice." He frowned. "However, he is reluctant to follow my orders, making it very difficult to utilize him in the field."

"There are methods to resolve that," Mr. Ness said. "You people may call it a mind wipe, but I prefer to think of it as a purging of the soul, removing the unnecessary thoughts and options that keep your Hero from being the useful tool that he is. I can perform the procedure for you, in this very room even."

"That would be useful," Mr. Dax said. "But first, there is another matter." He pulled out a second Hero Core. "This one was recovered in southern Peru a few days ago. It has not yet responded to my touch, or the touch of my trusted associates."

"May I?" Mr. Ness asked, taking the Hero Core and weighing it in his hands. "I see… yes. This is a powerful Hero, perhaps the most powerful in terms of raw energy. But his spirit lacks the dedication to unleash that energy properly. You see, he lacks self-confidence, but once you have him under your control, that will no longer be a concern."

"I came to you again to help me find a suitable user," Mr. Dax said. "After all, you were absolutely correct when you paired Mazhar up with Bruizer."

"And you already selected a candidate?" Mr. Ness asked, eyeing Gerald.

"A potential one," Mr. Dax said, but he frowned again. "Unfortunately, he does not sound much like this Hero. Gerald is not lacking in confidence."

"Is he not?" Mr. Ness asked.

"Are you inferring that my son is…"

"You misunderstand," Mr. Ness said quickly. "Not all attributes must match." He stood up and walked behind Gerald, who was doing his best not to look nervous. "He is indeed strong willed, and has a great potential locked away inside of him. A potential that he has not yet reached, but that of which is attainable."

"That is true," Mr. Dax said.

But Mr. Ness leaned over and whispered in Gerald's ear, "Oh, but the uncertainty is there too. How can a son like you ever hope to achieve as much as his father? How can he prove himself when he fears that, deep down, it is only his family crest that anybody respects? The child is walled within a cage of expectation."

"What was that?" Mr. Dax asked, barely hearing the whisper.

"I was saying, your son will be a perfect match," Mr. Ness said casually. "A father and son, each controlling their own Hero, each striving towards their own destiny. Für ruhm!"

"Then Gerald, this now belongs to you," Mr. Dax said, handing him the Hero Core. "Go ahead and activate it."

Gerald paused, and then tapped the center of the H. The Hero Core began to turn yellow and vibrate, and then it started to expand. It grew into a sleek Hero with blue armor and a ridged helmet. The Heroes eyes opened, and he started speaking in his native language, looking around in surprise.

Gerald's eyes were wide. "Wow," he said. "My very own Hero."

Mr. Ness waved his hand to get the Hero's attention. "Do not fear, my robotic begleiter. Tell me, what is your name?"

The Hero paused, mesmerized by Mr. Ness's eyes. "Mark Surge," he responded. "I am the elemental Hero of Electricity."

"Good, good, focus on me, Herr Surge," Mr. Ness continued. "Focus on my eyes now, and let your mind be clear."

"Is he trying to hypnotize the robot?" Gerald whispered to his father. "Can robots even be hypnotized? It's not like they have minds, right?"

"With these robots, they have something similar enough," Mr. Dax replied. "This might help make them less troublesome."

After a few minutes of speaking to Surge, Mr. Ness concluded his session, and turned to Gerald. "Please give him a command. A basic one, please."

"Okay, sit," Gerald said. Surge obediently bent his knees and sat down on the floor.

"Stand," Gerald said. "Turn around. Wave your arms." To his surprise, the Hero dutifully preformed all his tasks.

"Then it worked," Mr. Ness said, pleased with his efforts. "Your Hero will be forever obedient to you, my lad. Now, Terrence, comes the more difficult part. Activate Stormer."

"How will it be more difficult?" Mr. Dax asked, grabbing his Hero Core.

"Stormer has a complex mind, and a strong will," Mr. Ness said. "But between the two of us, I believe that we can break it."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Furno walked out in the midmorning sun, taking a narrow alleyway to stay out of sight from a nearby street. He sighted the building up ahead and tapped the side of his helmet. That was where he had installed a radio receiver; it wasn't as elegant as his standard set, but it still put him in touch with the rest of the humans and Heroes. "I've found the building. This is the correct one, right?"

On the other end of the line, he heard Erez respond. "Affirmative, Furno. Yolanda's given the go ahead; let's move forward."

The structure was an older office building, which appeared to be closed for renovations to the public. But inside, on the second story, a group of men were meeting. They all shuffled in around a table, and kept glancing at the man at the head of it. He was a large Brazilian who wore a thick mustache with dark brown hair. And he was not in a good mood.

"How many arrests were there last night?" he demanded of the men around him in Portuguese.

The men hesitated. "Over a dozen," one of his underlings repeated. "But Marcello, sir, you have to understand…"

"I sent two dozen men to kill a small group of Americans," Marcello said. "You had greater numbers and the element of surprise. How did you manage to lose to them?"

"Sir, they had a robot."

"Yes, and to counter that, I sent my robot," Marcello said, gesturing across the room to where Bulk was leaning against the wall.

"They had more robots," one of the men insisted. "One engaged your robot, one shielded them from our bullets, and then a third attacked us outright. We were overpowered."

"We cannot grow our operations if we can't make bold steps forward," Marcello snapped.

"But sir, why are we doing all of this?" one of the men asked. "We already have a lucrative weapons trade. Why must you antagonize the other crime lords? Doing so has only brought the attention of the Americans."

"Because you are thinking little, and I am thinking big," Marcello said. "With Bulk as our figurehead, we can monopolize the weapons trade. We will continue to grow, and anybody who gets in our way will be crushed."

The door behind them suddenly burst opened, and Furno strutted into the room. "If you have openings for somebody to get in your way, I am very interested to fill in the position," he said. "Villains beware, Hero Factory is on the scene."

Some of the men drew weapons and fired on Furno, but the bullets merely bounded off him. "I would think you'd have learned by now that your weapons are ineffective against my armor," Furno said casually. "However, I have found humans to be rather slow studies; they need to make the mistakes themselves at least a couple of times before their behavior starts to switch."

Bulk stood up, and flexed his limbs. "You shouldn't have come here, Furno."

"But I was totally on my way to see you, Bulk!" Furno said. "I was wondering if you'd be interested for another little showdown, to finish where we left off last night."

Bulk summoned a dagger and threw it at Furno, who quickly dodged to the side to avoid it. "However, this isn't the ideal spot for a fight," he said. "Perhaps we could relocate to a more adequate area?"

He was cut off as Bulk charged towards him, tackling him and throwing them both through the wall. They burst out of the second story and fell towards the street below. Furno flipped around and kicked Bulk off him at the last minute. Furno landed on his feet, but Bulk crashed face first into the asphalt.

"Not the best exit strategy," Erez said in Furno's ear. "There are witnesses now."

"There were going to be witnesses either way," Furno said. "But as long as they don't transition over to casualties, I'm good with it." He waved over and Bulk picked himself up. "Hello, Bulk, over here. You didn't quite get me on that last run."

Enraged, Bulk leapt to his feet and charged Furno again. But Furno was already moving, leaping over cars that had stopped to gawk at the spectacle. Bulk rushed after him, shoving the cars aside angrily. Pedestrians scattered as the two robots raced down the street.

"Directions would be appreciated," Furno said into his receiver.

"Oh it," Erez said. He was located in a small computer room half a mile away with Dr. Snowden, Samantha, and Vicki. It had been a back-up safe house Adam and David had scouted, and now they were making use of it for their current operation. It had a good fiber optics connection, and Erez utilized that to get a reading on Furno's current location via the GPS tracker that he now carried with him. He quickly plotted out a route and said, "Okay, take the street to your left."

"So Bulk's taken the bait?" Vicki asked.

"Seems so," Erez said, tapping his own headset. "Nex has visual confirmation; they're both on the move."

"Good, now it's time to move forward with the next phase of the operation," Dr. Snowden said, sitting in front of another computer with his own headset on. "Lieutenant Yolanda, you can move in."

Back in the office building, Marcello and his men stared through the wreckage the two Heroes had left behind. "This is crazy," one of men said. "How did that robot find us?"

"It matters not," Marcello said. "Bulk will deal with him shortly. But our location may have been exposed; we must move out now."

However, as they turned, they found Yolanda standing in the doorway, dressed for combat and with a pistol in hand. "Hands where I can see them," she snapped.

Some of the men froze, but others bolted for the side doors. However, those doors opened too, and Adam and David stepped in, also armed. "Yeah, you're not going out this way either," David said.

Marcello narrowed his eyes and snarled. "The Americans! You should've been killed off last night."

"Funny, but it'll take a little more than a few pea shooters to take us down," Adam said. "Well, I guess you did send in a super powerful robot, but we have some of those too."

"Surrender now," Yolanda said. "You are now prisoners of the United States Military."

"Under what jurisdiction?" Marcello asked.

"It doesn't matter," Yolanda said. "We don't even care about your little criminal gun organization. But you've gone ahead and played with a Hero, and we can't let that continue."

"So you're here for Bulk," Marcello surmised. "Interesting. But the Hero is not the one you should be concerned about right now." He reached under the table and drew a hidden machine gun and opened fire. Yolanda was forced to duck to the side, and the twins opened fire to draw away Marcello's aim, giving her a chance to get under cover. But in the chaos, Marcello's men managed to grab their own weapons and opened fire.

"Hey, which one of us was supposed to make sure they weren't armed?" David asked, ducking behind the door to avoid getting shot.

"We may not have thought that far through," Adam called over.

"Oh good, then it wasn't just me," David said. He peaked out again to take another shot, but saw that Marcello and his men were racing out the main door. "And now they're getting away."

"After them," Yolanda said, jumping to her feet and firing back. But the men were already gone, and she darted after them, with Adam close behind her.

David tried to follow, but although he was able to walk with his wounded leg, he was still slower. "Don't worry about me, I'll catch up!" he said.

Dr. Snowden grimaced as he heard the scene through his headset. "They were too well armed; they're getting away."

"But Yolanda is chasing them," Samantha insisted.

"Yeah, but they have a big enough head start that they can get to their vehicles and get away," Dr. Snowden pointed out.

Samantha bit her lip. "Unless we had someone tracking them." She turned to Erez. "Tell Nex to back off and track Marcello and his men."

"But she's following Furno…." Erez started.

"Furno can handle Bulk for now," Samantha said. "Besides, you're able to track him via GPS, so let's put Nex's skills to other use."

"And then Nex can lead Yolanda and the twins to Marcello!" Vicki said.

"It's a good plan, but Yolanda will still be playing chase," Dr. Snowden said. "Honestly, we don't have enough men on the ground to…"

He turned just in time to see Samantha bolt from the room. "Where is she going?"

"I think I know," Erez said slowly. "She took the keys to the truck."

Marcello and his men reached their garage, and got into two black cars. "Open the garage door," Marcello demanded. "We need to get out of here."

"What of our supplies?" one of his associates asked.

"At this point, they're an acceptable loss," Marcello snapped. "Now move!"

The door behind them burst opened, and Yolanda and Adam entered, firing their weapons. Two men instantly went down, and the others started to return fire. But Marcello and two of his men got in one car and accelerated out into the street. Distracted by their boss's getaway, the rest of the men fell quickly to Yolanda and Adam. All except one man, who took aim with another machine gun. But before he could open fire, David popped through a side door and shot him down.

"Well that was exhilarating," he said. "Although I would've preferred to use real bullets instead of these tranquilizer darts. You know they were going full out against us."

"We're not authorized to use deadly force on this mission," Yolanda said. "So tranquilizer guns it is."

"Well, the main boss is still getting away," Adam said, leaping into the second vehicle. "Let's go."

Yolanda hopped into the passenger seat, and David hobbled towards the vehicle. But before he could reach it, Adam took off. "Fine, I'll just wait back here, in case they come back," David shouted at their taillights.

Samantha, meanwhile, put herself behind the wheel of their truck and started the engine. They were in a parking garage, trying to look inconspicuous, but now she needed to drive quickly to catch up to the gun dealers and cut off their escape. She jammed down on the accelerator and took a turn a bit too sharply, and bumped over the curb as she exited the parking garage.

She took a deep breath to calm herself; although she had some practice driving, she still didn't have her license in the states, and she had never driven a vehicle this large. But she had played video games before, and adrenaline and determination were pushing her on. She activated her own headset and asked, "Okay, Nex, where are they going?"

"I see you," Nex responded over the headset. "They are trying to avoid main routes, likely to escape the notice of their pursuers. I can see that Yolanda and Adam are not far behind, but they're losing ground."

"Tell me where I can block them," Samantha said, turning down a road heading in the general direction. She pulled into traffic, and other cars swerved aside and honked at her, but she ignored them for now.

"After two intersections, take a right," Nex directed her. "Travel the distance of four structures, and then turn left, and then right again. This will put you in an alleyway that I predict they are trying to transverse."

Samantha followed Nex's directions, taking one turn so sharply that she went off the road and crossed onto the sidewalk briefly, but luckily there weren't any pedestrians to get in her way. She slowed down in order to take the next turn, and finally entered a tight alleyway that was barely wider than the width of her truck. Right on schedule, Marcello's car turned down the alleyway ahead of her. But Marcello's men saw the truck too late, and even as they slammed on their brakes, they were moving too fast.

"Uh oh," Samantha said, gripping her seatbelt.

Marcello's car slammed into the truck. The truck was sturdier and took the blow better than the car, but it still flung Samantha forward painfully. Luckily, the collision had been relatively low speed, so Samantha was merely dazed and not seriously injured.

Marcello's car, on the other hand, was no longer in running condition, and smoke began to billow out of the hood. Marcello and his men pulled themselves out of the car, worse for wear after the accident. But he recognized the truck as the one used by the Americans, and glared angrily at it. He drew his pistol and fired.

Samantha's head was still spinning, but she yelped out as the bullet struck the windshield. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't fully bulletproof, but the windshield did take the impact of the first bullet. When Marcello's men fired, it shattered after multiple collisions. Samantha ducked down and shielded her head from the falling glass.

"Kill the driver," Marcello shouted. "Then get a move on, we need to…"

The second car pulled up behind them, and Adam was already leaning out the driver's window. He fired, and one of the men fell down. The other took a tranquillizer dart from Yolanda, who leapt out of the vehicle even as Marcello lifted his weapon. Before he could fire, she knocked it out of his hands.

"You ready to surrender now?" she asked.

"Never!" Marcello shouted, and he threw his fist. But although he was a strong man, it turned out that Yolanda was a stronger woman. She broke off his attack, twisted his arm around his back, and then threw him into the nearby wall. The collision knocked him unconscious.

"Marcello is down; we have him," Yolanda said over her headset. "Alert the authorities; they can move in now and help us collect these criminals."

Samantha shakily stepped out of the truck. "Thanks for the save," she said.

"So you were the one who took the truck and tried to block them in," Yolanda demanded, glaring at Samantha. "Another one of your impulsive actions?"

"I… yes," Samantha admitted. "I just thought that it might…"

"It was a good plan," Yolanda said, interrupting her. "Your quick thinking did pay off this time."

Taken aback, Samantha said, "Thanks, I guess."

"But it's not over yet," Yolanda said. "We've taken down the Master, but the Hero is still on the loose."

Furno was currently leading Bulk on a wild chase through the forested streets of Sao Paulo. He was faster and more agile than the silver Hero, but once Bulk started moving, nothing would stop him. Bulk shoved aside anything that got in his way, including parked vehicles and small buildings. Furno could've easily escaped on his own, but that wasn't the mission. He was supposed to lead Bulk, and it was taking all his skills to just avoid as many crowded areas as he could.

"You're getting close," Erez said to Furno over the radio. "Up ahead, take a left."

Furno was about to turn, but Bulk had grabbed a small car and lifted it over his head. He threw it, and Furno narrowly dodged to the right to avoid it, and then charged down that side street.

"No, your other left!" Erez said.

"Too late, I'm going this way," Furno replied, even as Bulk closed in behind him.

"No, you see, you don't want to go that way!" Erez said. "Up ahead is a…"

Furno glanced up ahead to see a major highway, with fairly heavy traffic in the morning rush. There were too many cars passing by for him to cross safely, but he couldn't slow down with Bulk right behind him. So Furno leapt over the roadside barrier and dashed into the highway.

He landed in the first lane, and already a car was heading towards him. Furno pushed forward, darting out of the way just in time. But another vehicle was approaching in the other lane, so Furno bent his legs and leapt upward, sailing over the roof of the car. He landed and pivoted to avoid ramming into another vehicle.

But Bulk was being a little more direct. He charged straight onto the roadway, smashing through the barrier. But he didn't see the semi-truck until the last minute, and it slammed directly into the silver Hero. The cab of the truck crumbled, and the trailer began to swing across the road. The cars were already swerving due to Furno's entrance, and more collided as the semi-truck skidded across multiple lanes of traffic. One car veered towards Furno as it braked quickly, and Furno leapt over it at the last moment to avoid getting crushed.

"Well, that's one way to slow him down," Furno said, observing the wreckage. "It looks like the safety features of these vehicles have paid off, as all the civilians appear to not be in any immediate danger. I will see what became of Bulk now."

But as Furno approached the wreckage of the truck cab, Bulk suddenly rose up and threw the truck's bumper at Furno, who got knocked over in the collision. As Furno got back to his feet, he saw Bulk advancing on him again. "Okay, so that didn't slow him down too much."

"That's okay, let's stick to our primarily plan," Erez said. "Your destination is to your left… your actual left this time."

Furno turned and rushed off the highway, and Bulk followed. He transverse a few more side streets, and then crossed along a wooden walkway. However, he soon reached the end of it, and turned to see Bulk blocking his exit.

"End of the line, Furno," Bulk said, cracking his knuckles. "There's nowhere left to run."

"Who said anything about running," Furno said, activating his fire sword. "This is where we're going to take you down, Bulk."

"You're delusional if you still think you can take me on," Bulk snapped.

"Am I?" Furno asked. "Look around, Bulk. We've got you right where we want you."

Bulk paused, and turned to take in his surroundings. He and Furno were standing on a wooden dock that jutted out into Billings Reservoir, a large body of water south of Sao Paulo. He glanced back just in time to see Breez and Evo position themselves on the dock behind him.

"So this is supposed to be some kind of trap?" Bulk asked, still trying to sound confident. "Even three on one, the odds don't favor you."

"We'll see about that," Furno said. "Breez, if you will."

Breez lifted up her boomerang, and the air started to swirl. Bulk, however, just laughed. "Another tornado? Are you planning to fill this one with fire too? You know that won't stop me."

"It's not a fire tornado," Evo said. He held out his arm and activated a long pike weapon.

Bulk looked again, and was surprised to see that the winds were picking up the water from the reservoir, forming a wall of wind and water that encircled the dock.

"That… still won't stop me," Bulk said, although now he sounded less certain.

"That's just to keep you here," Furno said. "We're the ones who're going to stop you. Ready for this, Evo?"

"You got it, Furno," Evo said brightly.

The two Heroes charged Bulk from opposite directions. Bulk summoned two daggers and used them to block Furno's weapon, but got jabbed in the back by Evo's pike. He turned to engage the yellow Hero, but then Furno attacked again. Furno and Evo continued to team up against Bulk; he could defend against one of their attacks, but not both at once. However, although they were keeping him off balance, they were also not sustaining any serious damage.

"You can't keep this up," Bulk snarled, taking a blow to the head from Evo and shrugging it off. "You can't beat me like this."

"This is just softening you up," Furno said. "Alright, Breez, let's take this to the next level."

Breez had been standing outside of the battle, focusing on keeping the water tornado spinning. Now she focused her powers, and the walls of the tornado began to shrink, gaining strength as they did. It quickly tightened around the three Heroes, and covered Bulk in an unending spray of water. But then the winds became too strong, and tore apart the wooden dock and lifted the Heroes up in the air. Bulk flailed about, but Furno and Evo used the winds to swing around and land some more blows.

After a while, the winds began to die down, and Bulk felt gravity take control. Even as he dropped down, he laughed. "Even that attack wasn't enough," he said.

"That wasn't actually an attack," Furno said, dropping next to Bulk. "More of a quick way to change settings."

Bulk glanced down and saw that he was not falling back down onto the docks, but rather into the middle of the Billings Reservoir. He hit the water with a tremendous splash, and quickly sank beneath the surface. Furno and Evo went under next to him. But as Bulk struggled to resurface, Evo and Furno kicked off and glided through the water. Unlike Bulk, they knew how to swim.

Bulk sank thirty feet until he eventually hit the reservoir's bottom. He tried to reposition himself, but his feet sank down into the mud. He tried to pull himself out, but his movements were slowed in the water. This was not the case for Evo, who swam forward with a fluid elegance. He slammed Bulk hard with him pike, sending the silver Hero face first into the mud.

Bulk managed to reach up and grab Evo's foot before he could swim away. But as he tried to pull the Hero in closer to get a solid blow on him, Evo twisted around and slashed at Bulk with his pike again. Stunned by the blow, Bulk fell back again even as Evo swam out of reach. Meanwhile, Furno closed in behind Bulk and delivered a blow of his own.

Buk soon realized that he was in trouble. Between the water and the mud, he was hardly able to get a decent blow in, and without air to breathe, his energy levels were starting to diminish. Meanwhile, Furno and Evo were both able to swim circles around him and deliver blow after blow.

Evo charged in for a jab with his pike, but Bulk managed to grab it and pull Evo in closer. Before Evo could react, Bulk had him by the neck. Bulk squeezed his fist, causing Evo's armor to start to crack. He was going to take down at least one of the Heroes.

But Furno was already swimming to his rescue. Igniting his sword, Furno superheated the water and sent a wave of heat out towards Bulk. The sudden change in temperature startled Bulk, and his grip on Evo loosened, allowing the yellow Hero to break free. He swam backwards but then caught Furno's glance. It was time to move onto the final part of their plan.

Together, Furno and Evo rushed Bulk, who was still off kilter from the hot water. Both of them kicked him in the gut at the same time, propelling him up and out of the mud. The force was enough that Bulk shot up and broke the surface of the reservoir. He opened his mouth, gratefully taking in a breath of air. But that was quickly taken away from him, as Breez was waiting with another water funnel. She had it pick up the silver Hero and slam him back into the surface of the reservoir, propelling him down through the water at great speeds.

Just beneath the surface, Furno and Evo were waiting, their weapons drawn. The water funnel pushed Bulk right into their weapons, and the added force allowed their blades to finally pierce Bulk's armor. He let out a scream, but the water muffled any sound.

Furno and Evo pulled back, even as Bulk started convulsing. They readied their weapons for another assault, but then Bulk's body began to change and condense. He had sustained too much damage, and now he was reverting back to his Hero Core.

Evo swam down and grabbed the new silver core before it could sink any further. Meanwhile, Furno surfaced and activated his radio transmitter. "Erez, we did it," he reported back. "We defeated Bulk."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Yolanda walked back into the hanger where her team was resting. "I just got off the phone with Captain Ricardo," she said. "He is pleased with how the mission turned out, despite some of the setbacks."

"Setbacks? What setbacks?" David asked, propped up on a chair. "Everything went exactly how we planned it. We found the Hero, beat him, and captured his Master. That is one hundred percent plan perfect."

"How about the part where we got ambushed, lost a vehicle, damaged the other, had robots tear up half of Sao Paulo, and have one of our own get shot?" Yolanda commented.

"Trivialities," David said with a shrug.

"I don't know, the agent getting shot should totally be cause for demotion," Adam added.

"They totally can't get rid of me," David said, leaning back. "I mean, how much more can they realistically demote me? Besides, you know they'd take you down with me; some receptionist will see the two photos and figure they're just duplicates and mark you down too, twin."

Yolanda rolled her eyes. After they had completed their mission, they had returned to the military base, and not a moment too soon. Already, the local news was going nuts about the various robot sightings, and the Brazilian military was scrambling to figure out what to do. Yolanda had worked with the Sao Paulo police in making sure the weapon dealers had been arrested, but she had treaded carefully to make sure they wouldn't connect her to the fiasco with the Heroes.

"So what happened to Marcello?" Vicki asked. She and Samantha were resting wearily next to a small table, while Erez was already napping in the corner.

"Marcello's men have been detained by the police, but we have Marcello himself," Yolanda said. "He is currently imprisoned in the United States barracks on this base, and shortly a team will be flying him to our detention facility in California. Since he's still connected to Bulk, we need to take extra precautions with him. However, now that Bulk has been disabled, he cannot assert any further control over him, unless he's able to reactivate the Hero Core."

"And where is the Hero Core?" Samantha asked. She had seen it briefly when Furno and Evo had brought it back after their victory.

"Inside there," Yolanda said, gesturing to a metal suitcase. "We will be returning it to our navy base located in Florida and keep it under lock and key. It's best to keep Marcello and Bulk as separated as we can."

"Why are we locking Bulk away?" Vicki asked. "If we can get him on our side, I bet he'd be really helpful."

"He would," Yolanda agreed. "But at the moment, we have no way to recruit him to our side. From our observations so far, it seems like only the first person to activate the Hero Core can use it. So even if we were able to find a suitable candidate for Bulk, there is no guarantee he would pledge his loyalty to them, or if they could overwrite his loyalty to Marcello."

"Given that Bulk spent the majority of his time trying to kill us and Furno, it doesn't bother me that he's trapped in a core," Samantha grumbled.

"So we're going back to the States then?" Vicki asked. "Oh well, I had been hoping to do some more stuff down here. But if we're going to Florida, that'll be cool. I've never been to Florida before."

"This isn't some sightseeing tour," Yolanda barked. "Once we've returned Bulk's Hero Core to the Florida station, we will head out in search of the next one. Although Captain Ricardo mentioned that we will be on a bit of a leaner budget; he was not thrilled about the losses we incurred on this trip."

"Tell him to shove it," Adam snipped. "We got the Hero Core, and we got everybody through this alive. Given the danger we're facing and the fact that we have underage agents, I think that's the real win. Losing a truck and some equipment is a minor thing."

"Unfortunately, the politicians who oversee our budgets don't see things the same way," Yolanda said. "I mean, that was two trucks you totaled. That's costly."

"To be fair, the enemy trashed one of them, and then Samantha trashed the second," David pointed out.

"Hey!" Samantha protested.

"What, it's true," David said with a shrug. "Getting assigned blame is a very adult thing; deal with it."

"Okay, so after a quick stop over in Florida, where to next?" Vicki asked.

"We'll likely look into one of the other radiation readings we got earlier," Yolanda said. "We have recordings in China and Turkey, for example, which might be worth investigating."

"No, no, I get the next pick," David said, sliding his tablet to Yolanda. "That's where we're going next."

"Why do you get next pick?" Adam asked.

"Because I was the one who got injured on the job," David said smugly.

"You got a minor flesh wound, big deal," Adam retorted.

"I was injured in the line of duty protecting our people," David shot back.

"You were cowering behind a truck and got hit by a ricochet," Adam corrected.

"You want to go to the Bahamas?" Yolanda asked, frowning.

"Oh, the Bahamas?" Adam asked. "Never mind, David is totally the next person to pick. Good choice, Bro."

"Why the Bahamas?" Samantha asked.

"One of our earlier readings indicated that there was something in the area," David said. "And I was pulling up our latest intel, and the same readings are there, even if they're a bit weaker than other areas."

"Unfortunately, we don't have any solid leads, so we won't know where to look if somebody has activated the Hero," Yolanda said.

"But we could use Nex," Vicki said. "She can see the radiation too, and can get a lock on it if we're closer. And if it's not moving around as much as Bulk, she could probably lead us right to it, just as she led us to Furno's elemental crystal earlier."

"I suppose," Yolanda mused. "The Bahamas are on the way to our Florida base… so it wouldn't be too much of a detour. And if this is an inactive Hero Core, the sooner we get to it the better."

"Excellent!" David said. "Tropical islands, here we come!"

OoOoOoOoO

Mazhar dropped his packed bags at the door of the penthouse as Mr. Dax and Gerald walked up. "The car is ready," he said. "We can leave for the airport momentarily."

"Very good," Mr. Dax said. "Our flight is still a few hours away, but we will need some extra time to deal with security, to make sure our Hero Cores don't set off their detectors again. Luckily, I have enough bribe money prepared."

"Very good," Mazhar said gruffly. "Now where's the office ornament? She doesn't have a lot of stuff to pack herself, does she?"

"Nadia will be joining us shortly," Mr. Dax said. "She had to see to some company issues this morning, and was otherwise preoccupied getting to know her new 'Hero.'"

"So we're going to Tokyo next?" Gerald asked. "Do you have an associate we're meeting there too? Or are you going to visit your research facility there?"

"Not quite," Mr. Dax said. "Since Mirai Tech is a big tech company in the Tokyo area, I have recently been invited to a gathering by the Duter Institution."

"But those guys are lame-wads," Gerald said, making a face. "Didn't you say that half their good ideas were stolen from you?"

Mr. Dax chuckled. "I have no proof, but I'm sure that's the case. Mostly I'm against some of their methods; Duter Institution can be a bit messy with how they organize their research; they lack certain elegance. While I do not get along with Donald Duter himself, I must still respect his status as a leader in our industry. Even if I am also a leader myself."

"Okay, but why are you wasting your time on this guy?" Gerald asked. "I know you like attending parties, but I thought you were more worried about finding these Hero Cores."

"I happen to agree with the lad," Mazhar put in. "Is this trip not a waste of time?"

"I suppose neither of you are aware of the bigger picture here," Mr. Dax said with a sigh. "Okay, let me fill you in. Mazhar, you remember that radiation reading in Russia that I was going to have you investigate?"

Mazhar nodded. "Yes, but you told me that one had already been removed from the country."

"That is the case, and I also know who moved it," Mr. Dax said. "You see, that particular core crashed into an oil refinery. It caused a bit of damage, even made the local news. But then it was covered up as if everything was fine, to ward off further investigation."

"Does that mean the Russian government was involved?" Mazhar asked.

"Nope, it happened even before they could get in," Mr. Dax said. "Because, you see, this particular oil refinery was owned and operated by an international conglomerate: Duter Institution."

"Wait, you don't mean…" Mazhar started.

"Donald Duter was in the area, and visited the wreckage soon after it was reported," Mr. Dax said. "Then he left the country, and the whole incident was covered up. At the same time, the radiation readings went dark in the region. Then, a few days later, Mr. Duter announces that his company has made a major weapons manufacturing breakthrough, and they are hosting this party in Tokyo to officially announce it."

"So you think Mr. Duter has a Hero Core now too," Gerald summed up.

"Precisely," Mr. Dax said. "Nadia and I have already thought this over, and we have some plans we would like to follow through with. That involves attending his little party in a few days. But there are some things we need to prepare ahead of time, which is why we should arrive early."

"I understand now," Mazhar said. "You are a shrewd man, Terry. This trip is all about getting Mr. Duter's Hero Core."

"In a matter of speaking," Mr. Dax said.

"And once you get it, then what?" Gerald asked.

"I have some… special plans for these Heroes," Mr. Dax said. "But that will come later." He nodded as Miss Seychell walked into the living room. "Ah, Nadia, so nice of you to join us. Are you ready for the trip?"

Miss Seychell frowned. "There have been some new developments. You should see this." She handed Mr. Dax a tablet with snippets of news stories.

Mr. Dax frowned as he read over it. "Mayhem in Sao Paulo?" he read out loud. "Giant robots seen running through the street. Massive water funnel sighted, unexplained tremors and fire blasts across the city. Something went down in Brazil."

"More Heroes?" Gerald asked. "Do you have more people down there collecting them?"

"No, I only have a few trusted associates with me on this hunt, and none ventured down to Brazil," Mr. Dax said. "We did locate a potential radiation reading down there, but my sources informed me that somebody had already claimed the Hero. It was some low life criminal using him for bank robberies; it was something we could deal with at a later time. But I didn't realize his actions would escalate."

"That's not everything, sir," Miss Seychell said, scrolling down to some photographs. "A few blurry shots of the fighting Heroes were captured; there were two of them, and I believe you will recognize one."

Mr. Dax raised his eyebrow. "Indeed, the red character was the one encountered in California."

Mazhar looked over Mr. Dax's shoulder. "That's indeed the one I saw," he said. "He nearly bested Bruizer too, and managed to escape. Why is he in Sao Paulo now? I thought his Master was just a child?"

"Yes, but either Miss Peregrine has given her Hero a long leash, or she is involved with another faction herself," Mr. Dax mused. "We know she and her friends went missing shortly after their run in with Bruizer, and now her Hero appears in Brazil."

"Peregrine?" Gerald repeated. "Wait a moment, are you talking about that tomboy Sam? She also has a Hero?"

"It would appear that way," Mr. Dax confirmed. "You can be filled in on the details later."

"I was able to contact some associates in the area," Miss Seychell said. "Although it hasn't leaked out to the main media, there was apparently an American military group that was attacked in the city the previous night, but despite the long odds they managed to survive. That group has also departed, and are heading north. I just got reports back from our satellite; there are no longer any strong radiation readings in the Sao Paulo area, but there was a major reading in the air north of the city. I believe they are flying away from the city, having recovered the Hero Core in Sao Paulo."

"A resourceful military operation to collect the Heroes?" Mr. Dax repeated. "I wonder if this is the alleged US Extraterrestrial Taskforce, showing itself again." He paused, and then asked, "Will it be possible to track their current location, Nadia?"

Miss Seychell nodded. "Our satellite feeds are very close to real time, and unless they go far underground, they won't be able to hide the Hero's radiation."

"I think these people have suddenly made themselves a higher priority for us to deal with," Mr. Dax said thoughtfully. "Nadia, please alter our tickets. We will need a flight back to the states, as soon as possible. Also send out a few drones to monitor these Hero users. I want their movements closely tracked."

"As you say, sir," Miss Seychell said, taking back the tablet so she could change their travel itinerary.

"Wait, you're making another last minute plan change?" Mazhar grumbled. "I was looking forward to enjoying some fine Saki when we landed in Tokyo."

"Actually, your plane tickets will not be altered," Mr. Dax said. "Our plans for the Duter Institute will remain unchanged; I will just be arriving a little later than expected. However, I still need somebody to oversee preparations." He nodded to Mazhar. "I would like you to take my son and travel to Tokyo. I will have Nadia send you the details for our plan. This will be great experience for you, Gerald."

"If… if you say so, Dad," Gerald said, glancing nervously at the muscular Mazhar.

"Don't worry, sir, I'll keep him out of trouble," Mazhar said.

"Very well," Mr. Dax said. "But don't take him out drinking. In Japan, he is still underage, and I don't want him hungover for a day."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Samantha leaned on the edge of the boat, looking out over the ocean. The blue waters stretched all the way to the horizon, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect day for a leisurely boat cruise. Or, in their case, a potential treasure hunt.

Samantha glanced over to where Nex was sitting cross-legged on the bow of the boat. "See anything interesting yet?"

Nex shook her head. "I can still sense the radiation, but the source remains far off. However, it is getting stronger, so we're moving in the right direction."

"That's good," Samantha said. She heard some shouts below, and groaned. "I better go rejoin the discussion below," she said reluctantly. "Let us know if there are any changes."

"Will do," Nex responded.

Samantha was currently on board a large yacht with the rest of her team. When they had landed in Nassau in the Bahamas, Yolanda had procured the boat for their use. The vessel was owned by someone from the Florida base, and Yolanda had been able to call in a favor to allow them to use it for a few days. It was a moderately large craft, but with seven people and a couple of robots, it got crowded fairly quickly.

While Yolanda got the yacht, Adam and David had been in charge of getting supplies they might need. Unfortunately, it seemed they had gone over budget, much to the ire of Yolanda. Her first criticism was that the twins had purchases new outfits for everybody. While Yolanda balked at the extra cost, Samantha appreciated getting out of the stuffy military clothes, especially in the warm tropical air. She was currently in a modest, one piece bathing suit, ideal for swimming. The twins had bought everybody new swimwear, since their venture was taking them out to sea.

But the twins hadn't stopped at clothes, and Yolanda had been uncovering more and more of their excessive purchases. As Samantha climbed back down into the main cabin, she could hear Yolanda already in mid-rant. "There was no need for you to buy all that alcohol!"

"This yacht has a bar, so we need to keep it fully stocked," David countered. "We'll be returning it in better condition than when we borrowed it."

"You did it so you can sip drinks while you sunbathe," Yolanda shot back. "I know how you two think. This is not a leisurely trip we're on!"

"We're taking the mission seriously, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves a bit on the journey," Adam put in.

"Your serious lack of protocol aside, you can't just go waste our funds on this!" Yolanda raged. "We're not here for the two of you to take a paid vacation."

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," David said with a shrug. "We didn't use your card for this."

"You... what?" Yolanda asked, caught off guard.

"I mean, we used your account to get the kids new clothes and purchases the scuba gear," Adam said. "But these drinks are on our bill."

"And we got enough for everybody, so just chill out and have a pina colada," David said.

"Wait, we all get drinks?" Vicki pipped in excitedly. She was sitting on the side of the cabin, wearing a very trendy bikini. She had been ignoring the conversation until the last tidbit popped up.

"Sure thing," David said. "Except yours will be nonalcoholic, Miss still-a-minor."

"Oh," Vicki said with a frown. "I guess I should've seen that coming."

"It's still frowned upon to drink while you're on the job," Yolanda continued.

"Hey, we're special government agents, drinking fancy stuff is almost a job requirement," Adam said. "We're like James Bond."

"You are so far from being James Bond," Yolanda grumbled. "Antics like this are why you two are always getting into trouble."

"Hey, I resent that!" Adam said. "The two of us will enjoy a drink now and then, but we have never gotten drunk while on assignment. Never."

"All those crazy things were done when we've been cold sober," David put in. "Every single time."

Yolanda rubbed her temples in frustration. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse." She turned up and sighted Samantha. "You, do you have any better news than what these two dimwits can come up with?"

"Not really," Samantha said, not wanting Yolanda's rage to get directed towards her. "Nex said we're still a ways off, but we're going in the right direction."

"That's not bad news, I suppose," Yolanda said. She looked up as Adam moved towards the bar. "No drinks until we find this Hero Core. I mean it."

"Oh come on, you heard her, we're still a ways off," Adam protested. "Just something mild to tide us over."

Yolanda went off again, and the shouting match continued. Samantha squeezed past them and walked up to the pilothouse, where Dr. Snowden was currently steering the yacht.

"What are they shouting about this time?" Dr. Snowden asked as Samantha entered.

"Something about all the drinks they bought," Samantha said with a shrug.

"Is that so," Dr. Snowden said. "Well, she's really going to lose it when they pull out the cocktail shrimp. I know they're trying for some extra luxury, but it's like they're also enjoying pushing her buttons."

"Everything going alright up here?" Samantha asked.

"We're still on a course in the direction Nex indicated," Dr. Snowden said. "The weather's looking great, and there's no indication we're being followed either, so it should be smooth sailing. For most of us, anyway." He gestured to the corner of the pilothouse, where Erez was currently curled up in a ball.

"You doing alright?" Samantha asked Erez gently, but he just groaned a response. As soon as they had sailed off, Erez had gotten seasick. He had taken some medicine, but was still feeling rather crummy.

"He'll be fine after a while," Dr. Snowden said. "Seasickness isn't any fun, but the medicine should be kicking in soon. He might still feel ill, but it won't be nearly as bad."

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring Erez with us," Samantha said. "We already knew that he got motion sick easily."

"Well, it is his Hero that we're relying on, so it's best to keep him close to Nex, in case something happens," Dr. Snowden said. "In fact, he could just..." but he suddenly trailed off as he focused on the horizon.

Samantha looked up, confused by his sudden pause. "Something wrong?"

Dr. Snowden ignored her, and suddenly spun the wheel. "Everybody grab onto something," he shouted.

Samantha nearly fell over as the yacht turned, but as she looked out the window she saw what had spooked Dr. Snowden. A large wave was approaching them, and Dr. Snowden had turned the boat to ride into the wave; otherwise it would've flipped the yacht over.

Even so, when the wave hit the yacht, it sent it lurching up, throwing everybody on the boat off their feet. The boat came down and sent a splash of seawater onto the deck. It took a few moments, but the yacht finally stabilized as the wave rushed behind them.

There was a flurry of activity as Yolanda, Adam, David, and Vicky crawled up into the pilothouse. "What the heck was that?" Vicki asked.

"A very large wave," Dr. Snowden said with a shrug. "Didn't notice it until the last minute, so that's why we had to correct course suddenly."

"A little warning would've been nice," Adam complained. "We lost one of the finer bottles."

"Are there any more coming?" Yolanda asked. "If that was a tsunami wave, we need to report it before it reaches the main islands."

"The sea looks calm enough now," Dr. Snowden said. "It wasn't high enough to cause any real threat to the shore, although it might affect some nonobservant beach goers. But it's just a standard sneaker wave. If you're on the beach, you just have to watch out for them."

"But everybody is fine and accounted for?" Yolanda asked.

"That bottle of rum has seen better days," David put in.

"We're all good, if a bit shaken, I think," Samantha said.

"Wait!" Everybody turned to see that Erez was on his feet, pointing to the bow of the boat. "Where's Nex?"

Samantha turned, but the spot where the orange Hero had been sitting moments earlier was now empty. "Oh no, did she get washed over in the wave?"

"Quick, search the surrounding waters for her!" Yolanda said, but the twins were already on the move, moving to opposite ends of the yacht to begin their search.

"I have a better idea," Vicki said, crawling up to the deck. She pulled the Hero Core from her purse and said, "Evo activate!" Moments later, the yellow Hero had grown from the core.

"What's wrong?" Evo asked, already looking around for an enemy.

"We have a robot overboard!" Vicki said. "We think Nex got washed off the ship in a wave."

Evo nodded. "I'm on it. Hero Factory to the rescue!" With that, he dove overboard and into the water.

"Good thinking," Yolanda said approvingly. "Evo is the aquatic Hero, and is best adept in this environment."

"Thanks," Vicki said. But still, she frowned. "But I don't get it, where did that wave come from? I know sneaker waves can pop out of the surf somewhat randomly, but there are hardly any other waves today, so what generated that big one?"

"That is a good question, because it did seem rather irregular," Dr. Snowden agreed. "And judging from some tide stories I heard from the locals before we set sail, these kinds of waves have been more common recently. Perhaps there are some minor earthquakes off the coast that are causing mini tsunamis."

"Or perhaps it's something more mystical," Adam said, climbing back into the pilothouse. "We are within the Bermuda Triangle, after all."

"The Bermuda Triangle, where many-a ships and planes have mysteriously disappeared, and no one knows why," David added, entering in after Adam.

Yolanda rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me you buy into that nonsense. There's likely a perfect explanation for why all those crafts disappeared. This region is known for terrible storms, after all."

"Right, there's nothing weird going on," Adam said. "Especially not the lady leading a team from the extraterrestrial taskforce, searching for a trinket that can expand into a giant robot who can wield the powers of nature. That's normal, but the idea that there's something strange going on in the Bermuda Triangle is out of the question."

"Those aren't the same things," Yolanda huffed.

"All the same, it does seem like this is caused by something unusual," Dr. Snowden said. "And it's happening near the source of the radiation we're after; I doubt that's a coincidence."

Further discussions were put off as Evo surfaced next to the to the yacht, holding onto Nex. Everybody made their way to the deck as Evo climbed aboard.

"Nex, are you alright?" Erez asked.

"I am unharmed, if a bit ashamed," Nex admitted. "I was not in mortal peril, but it was unlikely that I could've returned to the boat without Evo's assistance."

"I'll just have to train you on how to swim," Evo said brightly.

"That's a relief," Erez said. But his stomach gurgled, and his seasickness returned in full. "Uh, excuse me," he said, rushing to the yacht's lavatory.

"Did you see what happened?" Samantha asked. "I mean, did you see the wave before it hit us?"

"I did notice it, but I overestimated my ability to hold onto the ship," Nex said. "Still, it was very enlightening. I think I know what caused it."

"See, Nex has a reasonable explanation for the freak wave," Yolanda said.

"You know you're taking the advice of a talking robot, right?" David said. "I mean, they're cool and all, but this totally counts as weird."

"What was the cause?" Vicki asked.

"An elemental crystal," Nex responded.

Yolanda frowned. "Okay, that wasn't the explanation I was hoping for," she admitted.

"How can you tell?" Samantha asked.

"As I've said before, our elemental crystals are the source of our powers," Nex explained. "When they're within our Hero Core, we can utilize their powers to their full extend, such as how Breez controls air or how Bulk could manipulate metal. But when outside of a Hero Core, the crystals will release the elemental energies to their surroundings ceaselessly, such as how Furno's misplaced crystal had sparked a forest fire."

"But what element causes big waves?" Vicki asked. "Is it something that makes earthquakes or the like?"

"It's a much simpler explanation than that," Nex said. "The elemental crystal is manipulating the water, liking causing large waves like ripples from the epicenter. And as it is, we happen to know of a Hero who is missing their elemental crystal of water."

"Wait, that's me!" Evo said. "You think that these waves are being created by my elemental crystal?"

"Indeed," Nex said. "And if we follow in the direction of the waves, it'll be an even more precise way to find the location, even compared to my sensing the radiation."

"Awesome!" Evo said. "I can't wait to regain my elemental powers again!"

"But it might not be that simple," Nex said. "The crystal may be affecting the water closer to it in unpredictable ways, making it difficult to reach. If you time it wrong, you could get seriously damaged."

"Well, that's not a good thing," Yolanda said.

"And it may be getting worse," Nex said. "The longer the crystal is on its own, the more power it releases. Which means these freak waves will increase in frequency and height, until they potentially could damage the distant shorelines."

"Then we need to speed up this operation," Yolanda said. "Dr. Snowden, change our course and speed up the engines. Nex, try to determine how much further we have to travel, and keep an eye out for more incoming waves. Everybody else... be ready to get wet."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"We're here," Yolanda announced.

Samantha glanced over the side of the boat. The ocean seemed unusually choppy, similar to what she'd expect to see off a stormy Californian coast. However, the weather above water was calm and cloudless. According to Nex, the churning water was the result of Evo's elemental crystal. It wasn't quite as big as the wave that had hit them earlier, but it showed that the crystal was still releasing low amounts of energy. And they had to be careful, because another big wave could get generated at any moment.

"So here's the plan," Yolanda said, as everybody gathered on the stern of the boat. "We don't know exactly where this crystal is, but it's nearby. Thus, the diving teams will be splitting up to better search for the elemental crystal. However, although our radar indicates that we're only in about one hundred feet of water, we are near the region where the continental shelf drops off drastically, leading to some very deep ravines. It is essential that none of us drop below a depth of one hundred feet. Lower than that, and we'll risk the bends, and we do not have the equipment to treat it." As she said this, she stared hard at Samantha. "Now, I repeat, Miss Peregrine, are you absolutely sure you want to join us?"

Samantha frowned. "My Hero is diving down, so I should go too. And Vicki is also going down."

"Yes, but Miss Kesler actually has scuba diving certification," Yolanda said. "Our records indicate that you have no such training yourself."

"I told you, I've done some simple diving in California," Samantha said. "Sure, it wasn't anything as extreme as this, but I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

"If you say so," Yolanda said, rolling her eyes. She motioned for Nex to project a map of the region, and said, "So here is where we are now, and we will need to split up and cover these regions…"

"I will be fine, right?" Samantha whispered to Adam.

"Just keep your cool and remember what I told you," Adam whispered back.

Samantha hadn't told Yolanda the full truth; she had only gone swimming on the coast once, where she had practiced swimming down only a dozen feet and without any equipment. But although she lacked the experience, she still wanted to go on the mission with Furno. Luckily, she had been able to confide in Adam, who had been passing along scuba diving tips to her whenever Yolanda wasn't watching. It was a haphazardous crash course, but Samantha was going to follow through with it the best she could.

The other team members going into the water were Yolanda, Adam, and Vicki, as well as the Heroes Evo and Furno. Dr. Snowden and Erez would stay on the yacht to monitor things from there, and David's recent bullet wound was preventing him from diving too, so he had to stay behind.

"And if any of us spot what looks like the crystal, they can press this device to send a signal," Yolanda said, continuing her speech. "This will alert both Heroes and they will be able to swim to your position. This is also to be used in case we encounter any trouble."

"You mean like if we encounter a giant shark?" Vicki asked.

Yolanda frowned. "Not necessarily, marine life will likely be the least of our worries. I'm talking about equipment malfunctions, which can happen to even the most experienced divers. Luckily, we have two Heroes who are well equipped for aquatic rescues, so we're in safer hands than most diving institutions."

Evo nodded. "Yes, and Furno and I can withstand much harsher conditions than your human bodies. And we move faster in the water and can feel the currents to track you down from great distances."

"That last part would only apply to you," Furno stated. "And that is also assuming you have your elemental crystal back."

"Oh, right, of course," Evo said. "But I still have decent underwater vision, so I can probably find you all pretty quickly if need be."

"And in addition to all the usual dangers of deep sea diving, we also have to deal with the anomalies cause by this crystal," Yolanda said. "It could cause extra waves or currents that could drift us off course. As such, we are taking extra precautions. If you surface a great distance away from the yacht, we can use your tracking bracelets to get a precise location."

"At least for the next six hours," Dr. Snowden said. "We have a designated military tracking satellite above us that can give us pinpoint locations… but we can only make use of it for a short period of time before it needs to its original programing."

"Our oxygen tanks have enough air to last us two hours, and then some," Yolanda said. "As a precaution, our first round will last an hour, so keep a close eye on your timers. And, to reiterate, do not rise to the surface at great speeds, because that will cause the nitrogen in your blood to bubble instead of dissolving. That will cause the bends, and I will remind you we cannot treat that here."

"Yeah, we understand the warning and all," Adam said. "So are we going to sit here yapping all day, or are we going to start swimming?"

Yolanda rubbed her temple in frustration. "Okay, unless there are any further questions, get suited up and prepare to disembark."

Samantha had already changed into a full body wetsuit, and had strapped on her oxygen tank and other diving equipment. She strapped on her facemask as Yolanda splashed into the water, followed by Adam and Vicki. David helped Samantha down to the edge of the boat, where she dropped backwards and submerged herself in the water.

She descended down into the water, doing her best to regain her bearings. Although she knew how to swim, Samantha was not the most comfortable in the water. It weighed in all around her, restricting her movements and rebalancing her in the water. She also had the not entirely irrational fear of drowning, but she kept reminding herself that she was well suited for the environment. Besides, even if her equipment started to malfunction, the Heroes were going to be nearby and waiting to help.

The others were regrouping ten feet beneath the yacht. It was quickly evident that Samantha was the least adept at swimming. Both Yolanda and Adam were handling themselves well, and even Vicky was moving gracefully through the water, whereas Samantha had to force her way to join them.

Even below the surface, they could feel the drag of the water, which was already pulling them away from the yacht. Yolanda gave off a few hand signals, letting them know it was time to split off. Although they had coms available, they couldn't speak with each other while wearing their masks, so they had to rely on visual forms of communication.

Samantha started off in her designated direction, as the others and the Heroes swam away from her. Soon, she lost sight of them and suddenly felt very alone. Realistically, she knew that the others were a short ways away, but they needed to split up to cover as much ground as possible, so the buddy system had to be abandoned.

Samantha dropped to about a forty foot depth, and was barely able to see the ocean floor below her. The atmospheric conditions above were great; there was bright sun in a cloudless sky, offering Samantha plenty of light at her depth. But seeing underwater was difficult; water tended to bend light waves, and the salt and minerals in the ocean water clouded it even further. Additionally, the turbulence of the water was also reducing visibility, thanks to the elemental crystal she was after. But as she was at a comfortable depth with the floor visible, Samantha decided to stay at that level.

She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for; the elemental crystal was supposed to be small, no larger than the size of her palm. There was no way she'd be able to spot that underwater. But if the crystal was affecting the water, she could search out oddities in the environments and use those to guide her, much like how that had found Furno's crystal in the burnt out region of the Sierra Nevada.

But there wasn't a whole lot to see. Although they were in the waters off the Bahamas, they were too deep to host any coral reefs or other colorful fish displays. Instead, she saw the occasional school of fish swimming through the water, and not much else. The ocean floor below was rocky, but not impressively so.

As Samantha watched a distant school of fish, she suddenly saw them shift, like a ripple running through a small pond. Moments later, she felt a sudden force as a wave pushed her back. It wasn't strong, but it was more noticeable than it should have been. It was a wave from the elemental crystal.

Suddenly, Samantha had an idea. On her own, it had been difficult to determine anything more than a general direction from the wave, but she had seen how it affected the fish. Based on that, she could give herself a bearing for which way to go. She adjusted her swimming pattern accordingly.

Twenty minutes later, she knew she was heading in the right direction. She had felt more waves, and seen how they affected other objects in the water, from fish to floating scraps of plant life. However, as she pressed on, the ocean's floor sank away from her. She risked diving down to sixty feet, and saw that the ocean floor was sharply dropping off as it approached an oceanic trench. And, of course, the source of the underwater waves was in the direction of the trench.

Samantha pressed forward, keeping a close eye on her depth. She had to keep swimming down lower to match the topography, but soon she was nearly eighty feet below the surface, and she could feel it. There was a greater pressure on her body, and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. The ocean floor suddenly dropped off over a steep cliff, and Samantha had to admit defeat. There was no way she could swim that far down on her own. Instead, she slowly began to rise; doing so at the rates Adam had forced her to memorize to avoid the bends.

She rose to the level of another school of small fish. The fish did their best to avoid her, but they weren't overly startled, obviously recognizing Samantha's lack of swimming ability and determining that she wasn't a threat. But then she got hit by another wave, stronger this time. It sent her reeling in the water, and it took her a few moments to recover. The nearby fish school had also been dispersed, and they quickly tried to regroup. But Samantha noticed something from the last wave; instead of hitting her and the fish from some horizontal angle, it had felt like the wave came from directly below her.

Had she perhaps found the source of the waves? Did she have the location of the elemental crystal?

Using extreme caution, Samantha rose to the surface. She was only forty minutes into her search, and she should've already considered heading back to find the others and regroup. But she wanted one of the Heroes to come check out her location, just in case her finding was genuine. Once she was on the surface, she could activate her coms. But she had to rise slowly; she really didn't want to experience the bends that Yolanda kept warning them about.

Ten minute of cautious rising later, Samantha's head breached the surface. Up there, she felt even more uncomfortable, because now the surface waves were jostling her around. But she spit out her breathing tube and reached up to activate her com.

"Hello, anybody there?" she asked between splashes of salt water to the face.

It took a few moments, but then she heard Dr. Snowden's voice on the line. "Samantha, we read you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, all things considered," Samantha said, struggling to tread water enough to keep her head above the surface. "I think I've got something. Can you send Furno or Evo over to check it out?"

"Sure thing," Dr. Snowden said. "I'm getting your coordinates… wow, you're a ways away. I'll have them sent to the Heroes right away."

"Thanks," Samantha said, as she repositioned her mask. She needed to make sure she wasn't dragged too far away in the current, but it was difficult for her to determine distance without any visible landmarks. She descended back into the water and dropped down just far enough to see the edge of the trench again. She had been knocked a little ways off by the current, but that distance wouldn't matter to the Heroes.

She maintained her position at a comfortable depth, doing her best to make sure she wasn't carried too far away by the currents. She was also on the lookout for the incoming Heroes, although she didn't quite know which direction they would be coming from. And doing so allowed her to catch sight of the incoming shape.

At first, Samantha thought the object was a Hero. It was moving steadily towards her, unlike the nearby sea life, but the colors didn't seem to match. Instead of a red or yellow coloring, it appeared to be mostly black, and as it got closer she realized it lacked a humanoid shape. She would've written it off as a piece of trash; she had unfortunately seen enough of that in the ocean today; but the object was moving on its own power.

Samantha's eyes went wide as she recognized the full shape. She could see the propeller blades, working as diligently in the water as they did in the air, as well as the camera lenses and laser weapon. It was another drone, and it was closing in on her.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Samantha didn't know how the drone had found her in the water, or even that the aerial vehicle could work under water. But she knew that it was probably coming for the same thing as her; the elemental crystal. And she also knew that it was heading straight towards her.

She immediately started swimming in the opposite direction, but she was still much slower in the water, and the drone continues to close the distance. She remembered her last experience with the drones and how she had dodged around them and sought cover. But now it had the advantage in mobility, and there was nowhere to hide in the vast ocean. She pressed her signaling device, to let the others know she was in trouble. But could she survive against the drone until a Hero arrived?

Samantha glanced over her shoulder to see that the drone was indeed charging its laser. Instantly, she dipped down and swam lower, hoping the sudden change in direction would throw off the drone's aim. Indeed, the drone's show missed her, but the laser caused the water above her to boil for a few moments, and a sudden expansion hit Samantha and sent her tumbling.

She struggled to right herself, but now she was sinking. She watched the drone pass by; it was moving too fast to slow down, so it would need to circle around to get another shot at her. But now she had even more pressing matters, as she could hear a bubbling sound over her shoulder. The tubing connecting her scuba diving mask to her oxygen tank had been torn in the near miss with the laser, and was rapidly releasing her precious oxygen. Worse, water was filling the void and was starting to weigh her down. Samantha checked her meter and saw that she was currently sixty feet down and sinking. She tried to kick up towards the surface, but it was becoming more difficult for her to swim up.

The drone was coming around again, and this time Samantha didn't have the energy to make a last minute dodge. But she also was no longer alone.

Before the drone could fire, a blast of superheated water struck it, throwing it off course. The drone righted itself and turned to see an approaching Furno, who had just used his blaster. His weapon was far weaker underwater, but it still got the drone's attention. It swerved away from Samantha and headed towards Furno, firing its laser a second time.

Furno activated his shield just in time to block the laser blast, but the water it superheated did cause him to start spinning too. However, Furno had experience battling underwater, and quickly righted himself. But for all his skills, the drone was still faster than him in the water, and passed by him before he could strike it down.

Furno narrowed his eyes and swam after the drone. He might not be able to catch it on his own, but he could lead it away from Samantha and avoid her getting caught in the crossfire. The drone circled around and found Furno already closing in on it. It didn't have enough time to charge and fire its laser, and instead darted past Furno in an attempt to get away and come back for a better shot.

Furno turned to pursue it again. He could play this game of tag all day, and he was confident that his endurance could outlast the power cells of the human creation. But suddenly there was another wave of water from the elemental crystal, and it was stronger than Furno anticipated. As he was sent tumbling, the drone turned and came in for another shot. This time, it managed to strike Furno's leg. It darted away, but as Furno tried to pursue it, he realized that the damage had severely cut down on his swimming speed.

Samantha was still in trouble, as she struggled to swim upwards. Despite her best efforts, she had only managed to rise up five feet in the water, and worst of all she was starting to taste the salty spray in her air tank. She didn't have long before she ran out of air, and at her current rate she wouldn't be able to reach the surface in time.

Something drew near her, but Samantha didn't notice it until it was almost upon her. She turned to sight a new figure swimming right beside her, which startled her and caused her to sink further. But the newcomer grabbed onto her shoulder and helped push her up. As her panic subsided, Samantha realized that the newcomer was actually Yolanda.

She resumed kicking wildly to get back to the surface, but Yolanda put her hand to her chest, telling her to slow down. Samantha nodded, realizing that her heartrate had increased drastically with her panic. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, and then resumed swimming up to the surface, and with Yolanda's help, she began to make progress.

Furno, however, was not making progress with the drone, which was speeding around him. It tried to strike him with a laser a few times, but Furno's shield could hold out against that. Instead, the drone continued to circle the Hero, as if waiting for an opening. Although the machine's design was primitive compared to the bots he had faced, Furno had to admit that it had a ruthless strategy.

Another laser strike knocked Furno off balance again, and he flailed in the water, trying to reposition himself to defend against the drone. But the drone took the chance to charge forward and strike Furno while he had his defenses down. Only, too late, it realized that it has all been a ruse. Furno waited until the drone was close enough, and then swung around and fired his blaster point blank. The drone dodged the majority of the blast, but one of its propellers got damaged, and its speed decreased. Still, while the field had been narrowed, the drone still had a narrow advantage in speed against Furno.

The drone fell back, repositioning itself to fire upon Furno again. Furno was about to raise his shield, but then decided against it, as if mocking the drone to take the shot. It focused in on him, charging its laser, but then something hit it from behind.

Evo had joined the battle, and his swimming abilities exceeded those of Furno and the drone. While the drone had been distracted by Furno, Evo swam in and stabbed it with his pike. The drone quickly deactivated, and the Heroes briefly exchanged a high five.

Nearby, Samantha and Yolanda finally broke to the surface. Samantha spit out her breathing tube and took in a deep gasp of air; she had been choking on salt water for the last ten feet of their swim, as her oxygen tank emptied completely.

Next to her, Yolanda also removed her mask. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Now I am," Samantha said. "But I didn't think I was going to make it for a moment."

"Good," Yolanda said. "In that case, what the heck just happened to you?"

"How did you even find me so quickly?" Samantha asked.

"You swam into my region, so I was not very far off," Yolanda said. "When I surfaced, Dr. Snowden let me know that you had found something, but then a few minutes later he added that you had activated your distress beacon. My position was not far away, so he gave me a header and I swam towards you. But how did you shred your air tube?"

"Got attacked by a drone," Samantha said. "Furno arrived, drove it off, but I was already sinking."

"An underwater drone?" Yolanda said. "That's disturbing. I guess it's lucky for you that you veered so far off course."

"I didn't… I didn't veer," Samantha said, bobbing up and down in the surf. "I was following the waves. The ones given off by the crystal."

"I was too," Yolanda said. "But how did they lead you out here?"

"I saw how the waves affected the fish," Samantha explained. "It was like a directional marker, showing me which way to go. And now the waves are coming from directly beneath us, so I think it's on the ocean floor below."

"That's… quite ingenious, actually," Yolanda admitted. "I was noticing how the straps on my suit were flowing with each wave, using that as a similar method of tracking. And it was leading me in this direction."

The two were interrupted as Furno and Evo surfaced nearby. "Good, you surfaced," Furno said to Samantha. "I could see that you were struggling earlier, but I had to take on that bot first."

"Yolanda came to my rescue," Samantha said, still struggling to tread water. Her tank was still quite heavy, and her endurance couldn't last much longer.

"She mentioned something about a drone attack?" Yolanda said, still skeptical. "But I honestly don't think that anybody would have such a…"

"Oh, you mean this," Evo asked, lifting his pike out of the water, which still had the drone impaled on it. "I've actually encountered two of these already. They gave Furno a run for his money, but they can't match me underwater."

Yolanda frowned. "This is not a good sign. This means that somebody else is either tracking the crystal, or tracking our movements, and they have excessive amounts of money to spend on drones to pursue us." She turned to Evo. "Please hold onto that drone for now, it would do us good to examine it later."

"Will do," Evo said. "But when I got contacted earlier, there wasn't a mention of an attack. Why did we get called to this spot?"

"I think the crystal is here," Samantha said, and briefly explained her reasoning again.

"Intriguing," Evo said. "Furno, shall we dive down and check it out?"

"In a moment," Furno said. He had noticed Samantha's struggled to remain above the surface. "Let's get these two back to the yacht first, then we can return."

"Good idea," Evo said, grabbing gently onto Yolanda as Furno picked up Samantha. "The boat is actually not far from here."

The two Heroes returned the women to the yacht, where Dr. Snowden had already collected Adam and Vicki. Once they were assured that all the humans were safe and accounted for, the two Heroes swam back to the spot where they had found Samantha. Along the way, they felt more waves coming off the elemental crystal, and their increased power indicated that they were getting closer.

They quickly swam down to the ocean floor, and found the sharp drop off on the edge of the trench. As they swam down further, the sunlight dimmed above them. To provide light, Evo activated shoulder floodlights, designed to provide light in the exact kinds of dark, aquatic regions they now found themselves in.

They spotted various sea life on the rock walls, but no crystal. Even so, they continued to descend, until they were nearly three hundred feet below the water. Furno had to stay close to Evo, or else he would get lost in the darkness himself. Furno was starting to doubt this location when they got rocked by another powerful wave blast, the strongest yet. It sent the two Heroes tumbling into the rock wall, and the stones above them started to fracture.

Encouraged by the turbulence, Evo descended further, and finally his feet hit the bottom of the trench. He focused his lights on the ground, scanning for his crystal. He knew it had to be close now. But even with two Heroes searching, it took them a while to cover the ground nearby. But then Evo finally saw a familiar glint of a yellow gem, lying in the silt of the trench's floor.

But as he reached for it, it gave off another powerful wave, and he and Furno were thrown back ten feet. Furno was still dazed, but Evo moved to reclaim his crystal before it could produce another wave. But in doing so, he was distracted, and didn't notice the trench's wall starting to cave in.

Furno sensed the movement in the water above them at the last minute, and dove forward, pushing Evo out of the way. A large bolder crashed down, pinning Furno's leg down. Furno grimaced in pain, but he had been through worse. However, now he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean.

That is, until moments later a rush of water picked up the boulder and shoved it off Furno. He saw Evo approaching, with his elemental crystal returned to his core and a wide grin on his helmet. He grabbed onto Furno and activated his elemental water powers, which rocketed them to the surface in record time.

As they broke the surface, Furno nodded at him. "Congratulations on getting your elemental powers back, Evo! And thanks for the save down there."

"Well, you did save me first," Evo said. "Plus, your leg is still pretty beat up."

"Nothing that a little rest in the Hero Core won't fix," Furno said. "Now let's return to the yacht and give the others the good news."

"Indeed," Evo said, but he still frowned. "Those other bots; somebody sent them here to take my crystal. This isn't like the situation with Bulk; that was purely human technology being used against us. But just what exactly are we up against on this strange world, Furno?"

"Believe me, I'm still trying to figure that out," Furno said. "We can celebrate the small victories, one at a time. But we still have a long ways to go."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Samantha walked out to the deck of the yacht and leaned on the railing to watch the sun set in the distance. She was still a bit jittery from her near drowning and needed some space. In the main cabin below, the others were celebrating their latest victory. The twins had pulled out their food and drink to start the small party, and Dr. Snowden and Vicki had gladly joined in. Samantha had been there for a while, but she couldn't handle the noise for too long, and decided she needed some space.

After their underwater expedition, they had greeted Evo and Furno when they returned from their dive to retrieve the crystal. Without the crystal's elemental energies, the ocean had calmed considerably, and they had been riding on gentle waves ever since. With their Bahamas mission completed, Yolanda had them change course and head towards their military base outside Jacksonville, Florida. Once there, they would regroup with the rest of the Extraterrestrial Protection Taskforce and determine their next move from there. At the very least, it would give them a chance to resupply and reenergize. They had been moving full throttle since leaving California, and only really got the chance to rest while traveling.

They were also interested in examining the drone that Evo had impaled. Despite the stories Samantha, Erez, and Vicki had told of the drone attacks in California, Yolanda had only half believed that there were others out there with sophisticated technology that were after the Heroes. But now they had undeniable proof, and they also had a mostly intact drone. Erez had attempted to examine it, but has just confirmed that it was indeed powered down before he had to stop due to his returning seasickness. The twins had taken over after that, but they had no better luck. Instead, they were planning to take it to a military forensics team near the Florida base who could provide more details on the drone's origin.

But after an initial flurry of activity, the team had begun to settle down for their long trip back to Florida. They estimated it would take twelve hours to sail back, which would put their arrival time well past midnight. Although Dr. Snowden was able to set up an auto pilot, someone would still need to be up in case something went wrong. Of course, for added protection, Evo had decided to escort the boat by swimming alongside it. As a Hero of Water, he relished the chance for a long distance swim, saying he hadn't had the chance to do so since the prison breakout missions. He also served as an extra lookout in case more drones showed up.

As night fell, the twins felt compelled to start up their party. But Samantha just wasn't in a jubilant mood. She put on a brave face for the others, but she felt shaken on the inside. It was a strange sensation; she had been scared when facing down the drones in California and the gunmen in Sao Paulo, but it had been different. Because, although she knew her life was in danger, she also knew there was stuff she could do. She could dodge the drones or fight back against the men. But when she found herself drowning in the ocean, her strength had nearly failed her. She did not like that feeling of hopelessness. Especially not after she had fibbed her way into the mission, claiming she was prepared when she clearly wasn't.

A slight breeze blew over her, and Samantha shivered slightly. She had changed back into her swimsuit, since it had been very hot out during the day. But now the air was rapidly cooling as the sun dipped below the horizon. She would need to get a jacket if she wanted to stay out much longer.

Samantha heard a sudden cough, and realized she wasn't alone. Down on the lower deck, Yolanda was also watching the last of the sunset. She had ditched the twin's attempt at a party, having given up on yelling at them. She glanced up too and sighted Samantha. "Oh, it's you. Enjoying the view?"

"I guess so," Samantha said cautiously. She really wasn't in the mood for another rant from Yolanda. She expected to get called out for her ineptitude during the scuba diving incident, but luckily Yolanda hadn't started chewing her out over it yet. Still, she didn't want to give her the chance.

Yolanda frowned at Samantha's appearance. "Young lady, you're going to catch a chill standing out here like that. Get down here." As Samantha walked down, Yolanda grabbed a towel that was lying on the deck and tossed it to her. Samantha wrapped it around her shoulders, which provided a much needed windbreak for her.

"Aren't you cold?" Samantha asked, noticing that Yolanda was also wearing a modest one-piece swimsuit.

"I'm used to it," Yolanda said with a shrug. "I've endured worse, and I've never much liked the tropical heat anyway, so I like the cool wind in my hair." She hiccupped, and added, "Although I'll probably throw on a sweater in a bit anyway."

Samantha suddenly noticed the nearly empty glass in Yolanda's hand. "Wait a minute, are you drinking?" she asked. "Are you… drunk?"

"I am not drunk," Yolanda said defensively. "Just a little tipsy. I needed this to drown out whatever those twin idiots are doing at the moment. And like I said, we can drink a bit now that the mission is completed." She took another sip from her glass. "What are they even up to now?"

"When I left, they were just telling some more of their stories," Samantha recounted. "I guess their drinking has made them more animated."

"Of course it has," Yolanda said, rolling her eyes. "I'm glad Dr. Snowden is there to keep an eye on them. Never touches alcohol, that one. Very dependable."

"He is quite reliable and talented," Samantha agreed. "How did a doctor like him end up on this taskforce if it's considered a dead end position?"

"He's dependable, but not a pushover," Yolanda explained. "He pissed off a few too many superiors by refusing their orders and whatnot. The rumors say that he actually shopped around, and liked working with Captain Ricardo in a research division. Nobody else up the chain protested, and so he ended up with us."

"Interesting," Samantha said. "And how exactly did you end up in the taskforce?"

"I'm not drunk enough to share that story," Yolanda snipped. She paused, and added, "Why would you think I'm drunk anyway?"

"You just seem… more relaxed than usual," Samantha said, choosing her words carefully.

Yolanda barked out a laugh, the first time Samantha had heard her do so. "I guess that does happen to me after a drink or two," she admitted. "I don't usually like to; I feel like my guard is down, I guess. But after a stressful day, even I need to unwind somehow."

"But today wasn't that stressful," Samantha said. "We found Evo's crystal. Mission accomplished." She frowned. "Unless the twins are really getting to you."

"They get under my skin, but they're not the reason," Yolanda said, taking another swig. "Truth be told, they've got their heads unusually in the game this time. I think they miss this more than they let on; they miss being important."

"Why do you dislike the two of them so much?" Samantha asked. "I know they joke around a lot, but they apparently have some unique way of riling you up."

"That's just how they are," Yolanda said. "Don't really feel like getting into specifics. That would just dampen the mood further."

"But if it's not the twins…" Samantha started.

"Goodness, and here I thought you had some smarts with you," Yolanda said. "It's because you nearly drowned, Samantha!"

Samantha blushed and looked down. She could sense the lecture coming.

"I mostly blame myself," Yolanda said, staring over the ocean. "I could see that you weren't experienced enough, but you just wanted to prove yourself, and I thought, what's the worst that could happen? Did I think we'd get attacked by killer drones? No, of course not, why the hell should I expect something like that?"

"But, then why did you let me go?" Samantha asked, slightly put off by the lack of an outburst.

"Because you honestly remind me of myself when I was younger," Yolanda said, staring into her empty glass. "You've got a good head on your shoulder and plenty of gumption while you're at it. You figured out how to analyze your surroundings and follow the crystal's waves, and you did that entirely on your own. You'd make a good agent… with some training. But without training, all you've got is potential, and if I hadn't been there today, that potential would've been wasted."

Yolanda paused, looking out at the darkened sky, where stars were starting to become visible. Samantha hesitated for a moment, but then said, "When that was happening… I felt powerless to do anything. I tried my best to keep swimming, but it wasn't enough, and I just kept sinking. I really don't like that feeling."

"It's not a feeling that's ever going to truly go away," Yolanda said. "It stays with you. But eventually you'll learn to fight it, and preserver. But you're still young; you shouldn't have to put up with that."

"It's not exactly new," Samantha said. "I felt similar when my dad passed away. My mom helped me through that, and I had Vicki too. But it was hard."

"I'm sorry…" Yolanda started. "I'm sorry you had to go through that today. And, I guess, I'm sorry that I've been a bit hard on you so far. Again, I see a bit of myself in you, and I know all the stupid stuff I would've done in your place. I guess I'm just trying to look out for you kids, in my own way."

"Tough love, eh," Samantha said. "Yeah, my mom likes to try that too, although she's got nothing on you."

"If only you knew," Yolanda said to herself.

"What?"

Yolanda didn't respond to Samantha's query, but looked at her thoughtfully. "You would make a good agent," she repeated. "With some training."

"Yes, I understand, I haven't trained," Samantha grumbled.

"You've got to start somewhere," Yolanda commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Samantha asked, her curiosity piqued.

"We'll have some downtime tomorrow after we've arrived at the Florida base," Yolanda said. "I've been stationed there before, so I know they have some decent facilities. There are some fighting moves I could train you on, if you're interested. I know you have some skills in martial arts, but those aren't always the most useful in a combat situation. I realize that I can't keep you out of the field, but I should be able to better prepare you for what you could face."

"I would like that," Samantha admitted. She shivered slightly, despite her windbreaker. "But maybe we can go inside now? I'm feeling a bit better, and I think I can rejoin their little party."

Yolanda made a face. "You do that, but I'll go to the pilothouse instead and keep watch. I can try to be nicer to you, but that does not apply to the twins."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The next day, Samantha, Vicki, and Erez stepped out of the military barracks and into the hot, humid Florida weather. Samantha was used to the dry heat of California, but the weather in the sweltering sunshine state was even worse. At least when they had been out on the ocean, the surrounding water had kept them cooler, especially compared to the hot asphalt of the military base.

They had arrived at the NS Mayport military base outside of Jacksonville, Florida at around three in the morning, and the three kids had been escorted to the barracks because they were utterly exhausted. The military cots were still uncomfortable, but Samantha greatly preferred them over sleeping on a plane or a boat. But by ten in the morning, they had been awakened because Captain Ricardo was waiting to debrief them.

They were escorted by two officers to a nearby office building, and along the way Samantha was able to see the rest of the base. It was not quite as extravagant as the California base, which had been more focused on the army and air force, whereas this base was focused on the navy. Still, the ET Taskforce had a small research division located there, where they had already stored Bulk's Hero Core after retrieving it from Sao Paulo. Although the land facilities weren't as fancy, Samantha could see a great deal of battleships in the docks on the water's edge. Vicki was also eagerly taking in the scenery, but Erez was quiet as usual. He was still recovering from his seasickness.

The two officers led them to a small briefing room, and took their leave. Even before they arrived, they could hear Captain Ricardo yelling, and they entered to see that he was berating the twins for their deeds on the trip. Both Adam and David were protesting all his claims, but Ricardo was not easily swayed by their rhetoric. Yolanda, meanwhile, was sitting in the back, enjoying the scene.

Ricardo took a deep breath as the three kids arrived. "This conversation isn't over yet," he said to the twins. "But since the rest of Yolanda's team has arrived, it's about time to debrief. Please summon your Heroes."

Yolanda, Samantha, Erez, and Vicki activated Breez, Furno, Nex, and Evo, who politely stood in the back of the room as everybody else took their seats. Meanwhile, Ricardo fiddled with a remote and turned on a projector. "I should first congratulate you for the capture of the Bulk Hero Core," he said. "As well as the recovery of the crystal for the Evo Hero. Even if the Evo core was taken without proper authorization," he added, glaring at the twins.

"Sir, if I may, you're going to waste a lot of time if you're going to bring up everything David and I have done that you disagree with," Adam pointed out.

"Just be quiet," Ricardo snapped. He regained his composer and continued, "Your recent aquatic confrontation did prove that we are not the only ones who are actively seeking out these cores. We already have forensics looking at the drone, and they have already narrowed it down to a list of five entities with the capability to produce this technology, which includes three companies and two countries. Further analysis will help narrow down the field, but whoever made the drone did so in a way so it can't be easily traced." He paused. "And that wasn't even the first attack we've endured against our agents."

Yolanda blinked in surprise. "What else has happened?"

"Agent Brodie and Agent Cody chanced upon a report in Istanbul three days ago about an unusual object going through airport security," Ricardo explained. "They tracked down the man, but then somehow ended up frozen into solid blocks of ice. Luckily, the hot weather melted them fast enough to prevent their deaths, but the experience has left them confounded and we've had to remove them from the field."

"You think they happened across somebody with a core," Adam said.

"And that person used their Hero to flash freeze them in place," David continued.

Ricardo nodded. "After their experience, neither Agent Brodie nor Agent Cody can recall any specific details about who they were following. They remember that there were two men, and then a white robot appeared and caught them with ice."

"A white robot?" Breez mused. "Could be Stormer. He's the Hero of Ice, after all."

"Impossible," Furno said. "Stormer wouldn't just go around freezing civilians, even if he was being controlled like Bulk."

"But technically, they weren't civilians," Evo pointed out. "If they properly identified themselves as part of a military, then even Stormer could've been misled."

"Besides, you lashed out at the humans in this taskforce when you first encountered them," Breez added.

Furno frowned. "It was because you humans were actively pointing weapons at three children I had befriended. Of course I was going to do something."

"If there was a big enough misunderstanding, Stormer may have done the exact same thing in this situation," Nex put in. "However, we cannot immediately assume it was Stormer, as we have faced villainous bots from our world here, and we even know of some who have similar powers over ice."

"Either way, there was someone in Istanbul who knew how to use these Heroes to combat us," Ricardo said. "And it was an isolated strike, unlike the string of robberies in Sao Paulo, so it leads me to believe that they could be more shrewd users… and if they are part of a powerful enough organization, they might also have access to these drones."

"I guess that tells us a bit more about our adversaries," Yolanda said. "But it doesn't quite narrow down their identities."

"Perhaps not, but we may have a lead," Ricardo said. He changed the slide, and a picture of a well dressed man appeared.

Yolanda frowned. "Who is that?"

However, both Adam and David jolted up. "Donald Duter from the Duter Institute?" Adam asked.

"The leader of the prestigious company that makes all sorts of cool tech toys?" David asked.

"And also a man who had to ban the two of you from attending his tech conferences, due to your distracting behaviors," Ricardo added.

"Please, that was years and years ago," Adam said. "I'm sure he hardly remembers."

"Besides, the restraining orders have expired by now," David said. "We had the date marked too, but we ended up being busy that month."

"I also recognize that name," Erez said. "He is an industry leader in robotics and transportation." He paused. "And I recall reading about his company's research into lasers."

"Lasers like the ones on those drones," Samantha mused.

"Coincidentally, that it part of our suspicions," Ricardo said. "Two days ago, the Duter Institute announced that they had a major breakthrough in laser technology, and they will be announcing it at a banquet in two days' time. The US Military likes to keep an eye on tech companies, especially international ones that specialize in weaponry. Their breakthrough is quite sudden and out of nowhere. We suspected that there might be more to it than just a lucky break."

"If they have a Hero, they might be using him for other things than freezing people," David said.

"Such as providing them futuristic technology from their world," Adam said. "That's one way to profit off the situation."

"A company like Duter Institute also has the resources and satellites to do radiation scans," Yolanda said. "They could use their resources to track down the fallen cores. It could've even led their drones to Evo's crystal."

"But they're not the only ones with radiation tracking technology," Ricardo said, changing to another slide with a satellite image of a building. "This is their headquarters located in Japan. On a whim, we did a radiation scan of the area, and we detected the same type of radiation that the Heroes give off. Duter has something related in his facility."

"So what's the plan?" Yolanda asked.

"We will stage a sting operation," Ricardo said. "Your team will supply your four Heroes, but we will also bring in extra manpower. We will surround the facility and isolate whatever is giving off these radiation recordings. If Duter is just in this for the money or the research, then we can come to some sort of arrangement. But if he is behind the ice and drone attacks… well, we still have plenty of cells next to Marcello that we can fill."

"A sting operation like that is going to take a lot of manpower," Yolanda said, frowning. "We don't have enough agents on the taskforce to pull this off; we'd need to borrow from the other branches of military. And that's not even considering that this will be a raid on foreign soil."

"That's why it has to go off without a hitch," Ricardo said. "We can't let this turn into an international incident. If more countries and their militaries become aware of the weaponized potential of these Heroes, then we're going to have more than a few trigger happy drones on our hands. It's best that we keep them out of the spotlight for as long as necessary."

"There are countries that will go to war over the ability to control these Heroes," Yolanda agreed. "It's even possible that some of our allies would grow jealous of our country's alliance with the Heroes, to the point where they would actively try to sabotage it. They could lead to an impressive arms war."

"But the Heroes aren't just weapons," Samantha protested. "I mean, they're essentially people too, as far as personalities are concerned."

"True, but unfortunately there are plenty of countries who won't see them as anything more than a means to an end," Adam said.

"And that says nothing of any alliances with non-Hero bots," Furno added.

"Our teams will continue researching, but the current plan is to conduct the raid tomorrow in Japan," Ricardo said. "We will begin moving equipment at eighteen hundred hours for the trip. You are dismissed until then."

"Wait, so we aren't doing anything until six this afternoon?" Erez asked.

"We recognize that there is a need for some downtime, especially for underage agents," Ricardo explained. "Lieutenant Yolanda shall see to your needs for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, I am needed elsewhere for further meetings." With a nod, he took his leave.

"So this sounds like we have some free time," Vicki said.

"Well, we're going to make some use of it," Adam said. "David and I were planning to head to the research division, where they've been working on a few things that might help us in the field."

"And they're cool, even if they don't like it when we keep referring to them as Q," David added. "If any of you want to join, you're free to."

"I would be interested," Erez said.

"This would also be ample time to provide you with some combat training," Yolanda said to Samantha. "Are you up for it?"

Samantha paused. "That was an actual legitimate offer?"

"Of course it was," Yolanda said, frowning. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you were drunk when you made it."

"I was not drunk," Yolanda snapped, as both of the twins started chuckling. "I merely had a single drink in an entirely responsible manner."

"Sorry!" Samantha said, throwing her hands into the air. "To answer the first question, yes I would be interested."

"Then get changed into some workout gear and meet me in ten minutes," Yolanda said, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "And I'll put you through the ropes."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Samantha hit the mat hard, which knocked the wind out of her. But she still pushed herself back to her feet, as Yolanda barked, "Again."

Samantha had taken up Yolanda's training offer, and now they were in the base's gym, where Yolanda had been teaching her a few fighting moves. Vicki had also elected to come along, since she was always eager to learn new things. However, Vicki was not nearly as experienced as Samantha, and her stamina did not last long in Yolanda's course.

"You need to keep your arms in tight," Yolanda said. "Don't give your opponent leverage to use against you. Short and quick jabs are the best, allowing you to transition quickly from offense and defense."

Samantha pushed forward, attempting to strike Yolanda. She attempted the quick jabs, but Yolanda was easily blocking them. However, when Yolanda tried to get a hold of Samantha, she was able to properly dodge back and avoid her.

"Good form," Yolanda said. "But now go for the choke hold."

Samantha darted forward, sidestepping around Yolanda's own jab. She got around behind her, and grabbed her outstretched arm, and attempted to bring it up around her neck and force her into a choke hold.

"Not good enough," Yolanda said. Samantha's arm was too outstretched, and Yolanda was able to pull her around. She attempted to yank her in front, where she could either get her into a choke hold instead or throw her to the mat again. But Samantha had already gone through this before, and she had a different idea this time. She braced herself with her legs and pulled her arm in, resisting Yolanda's pull. Yolanda had to change position to get more leverage, and this weakened her leg stance. Samantha kicked with her own foot, knocking Yolanda's leg out from underneath her. Yolanda started to pitch forward, and shifted her body so she could reach her arm to the ground and stop her fall. But Samantha had already shifted position and was right behind her back. She managed to swing one arm around Yolanda's chest, and used her weight to pin Yolanda down as she struck the mat.

"Well done," Yolanda said, as Samantha released her and they both got to their feet. "A good change in tactic turned the tide. Your final position still left you on the ground and in a vulnerable position. But the maneuver could still stun your opponent, and would give you time to properly pin them down."

"Thanks," Samantha said, between gasps of breath. She was sweating profusely, as Yolanda's workout was taking a toll on her. But she was picking up a few new techniques from this session.

"Now it's your turn, Miss Kesler," Yolanda said, nodding to Vicki. "Try to take me down."

Vicki nodded, for once remaining silent because she didn't have the energy to speak. She tried throwing a couple of punches, but she left herself too exposed, and Yolanda grabbed her arm and yanked hard, nearly knocking her down. But Vicki got back up and rushed forward, trying to catch Yolanda off guard. She got behind her and put her arm around her neck, starting her attempted choke hold. But her stance was weak, and by shifting slightly Yolanda was able to knock her off her feet. Yolanda grabbed Vicki's arm and spun, pulling Vicki off her back and throwing her down to the mat.

"Good effort," Yolanda said. "But you've still got to consider your opponent's options, and try not to leave them any openings. When you're under attack, you need to do the same. Sometimes you can turn the whole battle around when they try to pin you, if you can find their weak point and use it against them."

"At this point, my whole body is my weak point," Vicki complained.

Yolanda nodded. "Unfortunately, strength is a large determining factor. It doesn't matter how fast your reflexes are or how much thought you put into your moves; if your opponent can greatly overpower you, then a hand to hand fight will surely end in their favor. Muscle strength is something you have to build up over time, and unfortunately as women our bodies are already at a disadvantage to most men. Sometimes, you have to judge your opponent and realize that a fair fight won't do. Then you need to put your thoughts to escape instead."

"But escape isn't always an option," Samantha said. "And if you're telling us that fighting is the last option, then wouldn't we have already tried to escape?"

"True," Yolanda said. "And there are ways to take down stronger opponents, but they're not exactly fair fighting techniques. If you're in the field, you need to use your surroundings. Improvise weapons, use small spaces to restrict their movements, use sand or dust to blind their vision. If they're somehow unable to use their strength against you, that will give you time to either get a strike in, or a chance to flee that you might not have otherwise gotten."

"What kind of strikes could you get in?" Vicki wondered.

"Everybody has vulnerable areas," Yolanda said. "If you can't run, you go for those. Their nose, their eyes, their toes, or their groin. Land a strong enough punch to one of those regions, and that could take even your toughest opponent down. Although many strong fighters will do their best to protect these regions, because they recognize their own weak points and don't want to be taken down by them."

Vicki chuckled. "And what if you're opponent isn't a dude who you can do a dick punch to?"

"Have you ever taken a full punch to the crotch?" Yolanda asked. "Trust me; it'll still hurt a woman."

"Basic self-defense techniques," Samantha said, familiar with them from her own training.

"Indeed," Yolanda said. "But you still need to be in good enough shape to hold your own. Knowing the techniques won't do any good if you lack the capabilities to use them." She nodded to Vicki, who had nearly collapsed on the mat. "But perhaps this is enough for today. I have one more session for you. Dry up, ladies."

Samantha grabbed a towel and used it to wipe the sweat off her face, as Vicki took a big gulp of water. "I'm starting to think I should've gone with Erez and the boys to look at the tech stuff," she said. "I haven't been this sore in ages."

"I've been through some difficult sessions before, but this has been particularly draining," Samantha agreed.

Yolanda rolled her eyes. "And here I thought I was going easy on you two. I'm not sure if you'd meet the standards of the United States military at this rate."

Samantha glanced around the rest of the facility. Although it was the main gym for the military, it was only lightly populated. According to Yolanda, this was because most of the navy personnel were at their jobs, and the gym would be more crowded in the late afternoon once they had more personal time. There were a few men lifting weights, and had bemusedly watched as Yolanda pummeled the two younger girls.

As they dried off, Yolanda grabbed her bag of gear and gestured for them to follow. She led them to the back of the gym, away from the various training rooms and equipment. They finally stopped on the edge of the building, where Yolanda quickly talked to a receptionist who manned a locked door. Samantha was curious as to where Yolanda was taking them, but then the door opened and she realized they were at a gun range.

"What is this place?" Vicki asked.

"It's a facility where our soldiers can practice their aim and proficiency with firearms," Yolanda explained.

"And we're here because…" Samantha started.

"Because I want to teach you two some basic gun handling skills," Yolanda said. "Neither of you have had any prior gun training, and if you're going to continue to remain in the field with us, I want you to have this knowledge."

"I did fire a gun back in Brazil," Vicki said.

"So I heard," Yolanda said, frowning. "And how did that work out for you?"

Vicki paused. "I had no idea what I was doing," she admitted. "That's why I handed it over to David."

"Does this mean you'll be arming us in the field?" Samantha asked.

"Hell no," Yolanda said. "You're untrained adolescents, and one training session won't make you qualified to carry a firearm in the field." She paused, having let her temper flair up. "That said, if there's ever another situation like the ambush in Sao Paulo, I want you to have some options opened. If a gun is thrust into your hands, I want you to know how to safely utilize it; otherwise you could be endangering yourself and your allies. Now, we'll get you into some protective gear and go over weapon handling. And then I'll see how good of shots you two are."


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

An hour later, Yolanda was walking through the shipyard, where Captain Ricardo had summoned her. She had spent a good amount of time teaching Samantha and Vicki firearm safety, and then let the two of them practice in the gun range. Neither girl had great aim, but Samantha had managed to improve as their session went on. At the very least, Yolanda was confident that neither girl would shoot themselves in the foot now if they were given a gun. Plus, she always found it empowering to teach other women how to use firearms, which she felt was viewed as a masculine skill by society.

But their training session had come to a close when Yolanda received her summons, as Captain Ricardo wanted her to oversee preparations for their Japanese trip. Yolanda had headed straight towards the shipyard, while Samantha and Vicki had hit the showers, both burned out from their intense training sessions.

Yolanda sighted Ricardo on the docks, and headed over towards him. "Captain," she said, giving a salute.

"Lieutenant," Ricardo replied. He eyes her, and said, "Out of your usual uniform, are you?"

Yolanda was still wearing her workout gear, which was far more casual than her usual uniform. "I headed straight here after my training session with Miss Peregrine and Miss Kesler. I had already informed you of my intent to train them today. I did not have time to change."

"You followed through with that?" Ricardo asked. "I do not believe that is a valuable use of their time."

"It's not useful to give our junior agents some forms of basic training?" Yolanda asked.

"You know they are agents in title only," Ricardo said. "We are purely using them for their abilities to summon Heroes. Even Miss Kesler made herself far more valuable once she summoned her Hero. But we are not looking to train them for fighting situations. Today was supposed to be their day to unwind and relax before we threw them back into the field."

"I've already seem them do exceptional work for teenagers," Yolanda said. "Even Mr. Beacan, as timid as he is, was able to expertly coordinate the team from behind the scenes in Sao Paulo. The problem is that they're trying to be more useful, and if we don't give them proper guidance, then they'll make costly mistakes."

"It seems you've had a change of heart when it comes to these children," Ricardo said. "You didn't want anything to do with them earlier, but now you want to train them personally."

"I'm adapting to the situation," Yolanda said. "I know that we need the three of them for their Heroes to be used in the field, and that is essential to our mission right now. So if I'm stuck with them, I at least want them to be competent enough to work with." She paused. "And if I don't drill this into them now, the twins might take them under their wing, and I don't want that to happen."

"You are as pragmatic as always," Ricardo conceded. "And what's done is done, so let us return to the task at hand. We have the weapons and equipment stored ahead, so I want to have it inspected before we load it onto the cargo plane this evening. You will be in charge of…" he paused, as there was a loud bang in the distance. "What was that?"

There were shouts coming from down along the docks, and there was another crash followed by a few rounds of gunfire. A few moments later, the alarm was triggered. Yolanda and Ricardo shared a look, and then both rushed down to see what was going on.

Other soldiers were grouping together beside one of the docked battleships, and they had drawn weapons and were focusing their fire on something. As Yolanda and Ricardo ran towards the scene, they realized that the target was in fact a large robot. It wasn't quite as tall as the Heroes, and had a hunchbacked head, with short legs but powerful arms. Two large cylindrical vats were strapped to its back, with hoses connecting to sprayers held in each of its hands. It was clad in gunmetal and lime green armor, and was scurrying along the docks at a faster speed than it seemed capable of. It fired one of its sprayers, sending a green liquid towards a group of soldiers. The soldiers retreated, and the liquid quickly ate through the metal flooring of the dock; the liquid was actually a powerful acid.

"Yes, run from me, puny flesh bags," the robot said in a shrilly voice. "Flee from the might of Toxic Reapa!"

"Do you know this one?" Ricardo asked of Yolanda.

Yolanda shook her head. "We have not encountered this robot before. But the Heroes did warn that other villains from their world could appear. But how did it find this base?"

"We can ask those questions at another time," Ricardo said. "Summon your Hero now!"

Yolanda cursed. "I didn't bring Breez's core with me! It's back in my room."

"Then get back there now!" Ricardo roared. "We need some greater firepower to take this one down." He watched as more soldiers peppered Toxic Reapa with gunfire, but the bullets easily ricocheted off her armor; she was just as bulletproof as any of the Heroes.

"Understood, sir," Yolanda said, turning to run to the barracks. But Ricardo pulled her down at the last minute, as Toxic Reapa fired acid in their direction and narrowed missed the two. The acid hit the edge of the warehouse, causing the walls to cave in and crumple down on the docks. Yolanda suddenly realized that they were trapped; the section of the docks they had come down was blocked, and the other direction had already caved in. They were now wedged in between the docked battleship and the back of another warehouse.

Ricardo also took note of their predicament. "Men, get onto the ship," he shouted to the soldiers. "Don't get pinned down out here."

"Yes, run away," screeched Toxic Reapa as the soldiers retreated. "Don't want to get an acid bath, do ya?"

"The Hero Core isn't in that direction!" Yolanda protested. "I need to be the one to activate it, so I need to go."

"A Hero Core?" Toxic Reapa repeated, having overheard Yolanda. "Now that sounds like something I'd be interested in melting."

"I need a distraction," Yolanda hissed.

Ricardo nodded, and drew his pistol. "Men, open fire with everything you've got," he shouted, taking aim at the robot.

The soldiers started shooting at Toxic Reapa again, hitting her with a barrage of bullets. They didn't cause any serious damage to her, but they did distract her attention for a moment. This was all Yolanda needed, and she took her chance. She ran towards the warehouse wall, and she could see a small window located ten feet off the ground. She took a running leap, jumping five feet up into the air. She then kicked off the side of the wall, giving her an additional boost, and managed to grip the edge of the window. Then, in a fluid movement, she pulled herself up and through the window, and dropped into the interior.

The warehouse was a storage unit, with crates full of equipment and weapons stacked up in close proximity. As Yolanda's feet hit the ground, she took off running for the exit. The route was haphazardous, with narrow passageways between crates. Instead of trying to navigate the maze, Yolanda jumped up and over the crates, quickly making her way through the warehouse. There were some other workers who paused to question what she was doing, but they were soon distracted as the back wall collapsed. Toxic Reapa melted the wall down and used her acid to clear herself a path as she chased after Yolanda.

"Get out of the way," Yolanda shouted to the other workers. "There's an enemy combatant behind me; get clear and do not engage; it is too dangerous!" She made it to the door, but it was locked with keycard access required. Yolanda didn't have time to deal with that, but she noticed a window nearby. After verifying that nobody was standing near the window, she grabbed a chair and threw it, shattering the glass and giving herself a quick opening.

Yolanda lept through the broken window and landed in the grass of the courtyard outside of the warehouse. Across the street was a long office building, and further down were the barracks she was heading for. She took off down the street at a sprint, but behind her the warehouse wall blew opened as Toxic Reapa pushed her way out. Yolanda realized that she was suddenly at a disadvantage, since Toxic Reapa could easily overtake her in a straightaway. She wasn't going to be able to just run down the street.

She turned for the office buildings instead, even as Toxic Reapa closed in behind her. But Yolanda didn't head for the main entrance; instead she headed for the old fire escape on the side of the building. She grabbed onto the ladder and scaled it at double speed, quickly reaching the roof of the three story structure. To her relief, Toxic Reapa stopped at the base. The robot was unusually speedy for her stature, but she was not a climber. She turned her acid spray towards Yolanda, but the acid wasn't quite able to shoot high enough. Unbeknownst to Yolanda, the vats on Toxic Reapa's back were nearly empty. She would naturally be able to replenish the acid, but it would take some time, during which her sprayers would be ineffective.

However, she still had some acid left, and she used it to start melting the side of the building, hoping to bring Yolanda down with it. But Yolanda was already on the move, racing across the rooftop. The office building bordered the barracks, but there was still a ten foot gap between them that she would have to cross. As she ran, Yolanda tried to calculate the distance to see if it was possible to jump. It would be difficult, but if she had a running start, she might be able to clear it.

Toxic Reapa sighted her prey and moved in after her. Yolanda took note of this, further realizing that she wouldn't have a chance to climb down and cross over; she was going to have to jump. As she got closer, she surveyed the side of the barracks, and aimed for a particular windowsill. With a burst of speed, she ran the last remaining distance and then launched herself off the roof, directly towards the wall of the barracks. She lost some elevation, but her momentum was enough for her to cover the ten foot gap. She bent her legs to brace against the wall at she hit, but managed to get a handhold on the windowsill and check her fall.

Yolanda tried to pull herself up, but her arms were starting to shake; she was running out of stamina for this chase. Instead, she decided to aim for the window directly below her. She swung out her feet and dropped a bit, before she grabbed onto another handhold and swung herself in. Her feet hit the window, shattering the glass, and she fell inside the room in a heap. Nobody was in this particular bedroom on the second story, so she kicked down the door and raced to her personal room.

Toxic Reapa watched Yolanda break into the barracks, and moved to follow her. But before she could smash her way through the building, she was intercepted by a military jeep, complete with a working turret on the back. The soldiers activated the turret, pummeling Toxic Reapa with bullets. The barrage was more of an annoyance than the previous firefight, so it took Toxic Reapa a moment to right herself, and then she fired a blast of acid towards the truck. The soldiers dodged aside as the acid splattered over the hood quickly dissolved the metal frame. As it ate through the gas tank, the acid struck the gasoline and ignited it, causing a minor explosion. The soldiers were forced to retreat as Toxic Reapa laughed.

"Now to go after that nimble one," Toxic Reapa said to herself. She pushed her way through the main door of the barracks, shattering the frame as she did so. A few people were still inside, in civilian clothes, and they quickly retreated as Toxic Reapa rampaged down the hallways. She took note of the side of the building Yolanda had entered, and pushed through, firing acid at the walls. Toxic Reapa was aiming for load bearing walls, hoping to bring the whole place down with Yolanda in it.

And it was working. Yolanda had just reached her room when she felt the whole structure shake. As the building started to sag, she dove under the desk to protect herself from falling debris. Luckily, although there was damage, the whole building didn't completely collapse, and Yolanda found her room at a slant and only covered in a small pile of debris. She sighted her bag on the floor nearby, and pushed forward to retrieve it and grab the Hero Core hidden within it.

Toxic Reapa walked outside the damaged building, wondering what to destroy next. But before she could make a decision, a metal boomerang swung through the air and struck her in the head. She painfully got to her feet, and noticed another lime green clad robot approaching her. "Blasted bolts," she grumbled. "That flesh bag summoned a Hero."

"Toxic Reapa, was it?" Breez said, snagging her returning boomerang out of midair. "I would surrender now, because you're about to be in for a world of hurt."

"Hero Factory is still just as arrogant on this planet," Toxic Reapa shot back. "But you see, Hero, I've been given orders to reduce this human military establishment to a slush puddle. So you're going to have to stop me on your own… but you'll find that I'm too much bot for ya."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Samantha was drying her hair after her shower. It was the first hot shower she had taken since leaving California, and she had greatly appreciated it. Locker room showers had always made her uncomfortable, but luckily she and Vicki were the only ones using it at the moment, so they were able to shower and change clothes on their own.

"That was nice," Vicki said, folding away her sweaty gym clothes. "I'm still not quite sure why we agreed to that ass kicking, but Yolanda probably enjoyed herself."

"It was beneficial," Samantha agreed. Absentmindedly, she tugged at her tracking bracelet, which was starting to chaff her arm. She had been instructed never to take it off, even when showering, but it continued to bug her. She made a mental note to ask about readjusting it later.

"I guess you do like martial arts, so you'd be into that kind of thing," Vicki said. "All I know is I'm going to be sore for the rest of the day."

Samantha was going to reply, but paused as she heard a distant rumble. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Sounded like something big was dropped," Vicki commented. "But maybe that's a normal thing for a navy base."

But now Samantha could hear distant gunshots, and they didn't sound like part of some training exercise. "I think something's wrong. I'm going to take a look," she added, gesturing to a small window located near the top of the wall. It was situated to let light and air into the locker room, but in an awkward location so that nothing could normally been seen through it. Samantha managed to climb up on top of the lockers and get a look out the window.

"I see some smoke in the distance, by the docks," she reported.

"Maybe something broke over there," Vicki suggested. "But why the gunshots then?"

"I don't know," Samantha said. "But wasn't Yolanda heading towards the docks? Maybe we should see if there's anything we can do to help."

"Hello, we're on a military best with the countries best and brightest," Vicki said. "Or, well, as least a bunch of tough soldiers. I doubt there's much we could do that they couldn't."

"We do have our Heroes," Samantha pointed out.

"Oh, right. They could probably help out a lot more."

"So let's summon them and then we can…" Samantha started, about to climb down off the lockers. But then there was a flash of moment that caught her eye; something big just ran into view, and it was heading for their building.

Moments later, it smashed through the wall, sending lockers flying and Samantha and Vicki sprawling on the tiled floor. The new being was tall, in white and blue armor, with a domed helmet and a blue Hero Core embedded in his chest. It was the Stormer, but there was nothing heroic in his stance as he turned and eyed the two girls.

"Another evil robot!" Vicki yelped out. But Samantha had already recognized this, and she raced for her locker. Her purse was stored inside, and it held Furno's Hero Core.

Stormer kicked at a bench, sending it flying across the room. Samantha ducked down to avoid it, and reached her locker, where she grabbed the metallic Hero Core out of her purse. She swung around, ready to toss it at her opponent and activate Furno in midair. But Stormer had already activated his ice gun, and fired a blast. Samantha felt a horrible chill, and it took her a moment to realize her entire body, up to her neck, was now encase in ice.

Vicki also scrambled for her bag that held Evo's core, but she was too late. Stormer flash froze her as well midstride. Next, he walked over to Vicki's bag and ripped it apart, until he found was he was after; Evo's core. He placed it in a pouch held at his side.

"No, don't take that!" Vicki cried out, but she was effectively immobilized and couldn't do anything.

Stormer now focused on Samantha, or more precisely the Hero Core in her frozen hand. He raised his fist, ready to shatter the ice and claim his prize. Samantha grimaced; her body had already gone numb from the cold, and she didn't know what would happen if the Hero shattered her ice; would it shatter her limbs with it? But Stormer froze, as if conflicted about making the punch. Then, without a backwards glance, he exited out of the hole in the wall he had created.

"What just happened?" Vicki asked, panic starting to set in. "He just froze my body; I can't move. And he took Evo!"

"But he didn't take Furno," Samantha said. She looked at the core in her hand, and shouted, "Furno, activate!" But her voice apparently couldn't reach through the ice, and the core did not react. Outside, she could hear more gunfire and explosions, and soldiers were yelling in the distance. But nobody was coming to check on them; they were preoccupied with something else.

"It was a diversion!" Samantha said with sudden realization. "They did something that distracted everybody, and then that ice robot came in to get the cores!"

"But why didn't he take your core?" Vicki wondered.

"He couldn't break it out of the ice, or wouldn't, for some reason," Samantha said.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere," Vicki said. "I didn't think I'd be freezing in Florida in the summer, but that's what's happening!"

Indeed, Samantha realized they had been caught in a bad situation. She could feel the cold sting of the ice all across her body, even over her summer clothing. But there was something more; along her neck the ice was already starting to thaw. The hot weather was already weakening the ice. And although her skin felt cold, she still had her body heat, and it could help speed up the melting.

"Vicki, try to get your heart rate up," Samantha said. "Not like during a panic attack, but like how you feel when you're exercising. If we can get our body heat up, it might accelerate the melting."

"But I can't move," Vicki said.

"If you try to, your body will start burning energy and heat up," Samantha said, already focusing on flexing her arms and legs. There was a great resistance, as if she was trying to lift an object far too heavy for her muscles. But at the same time, her adrenaline started to rise, and her body temperature started to go up. All she had to do was heat up enough to get her arm free, and then she could summon Furno.

But her idea, while good in concept, was far too slow to actually work to free her soon enough. She could feel moisture on her stomach and back, as the ice began to melt. This gave her some wiggle room, but not nearly enough. She tried to focus on flexing her arm, where she needed the ice to melt the fastest.

While she was making some progress, it was not enough for her to break free. However, she was wiggling, and the ice was slick on the tiled floor. Suddenly, she began to tip forward, having upset her balance too much. "Uh oh!" she gasped, as she toppled over and smashed into the ground.

But her limbs did not shatter with the ice; rather, the ice fractured and broke off in chunks. However, some of those chunks tore off the top layer of skin on her arm, and she cried out in agony. But there was a benefit to the pain; Furno's core had been exposed!

"Furno, activate!" Samantha called out. This time, the core reacted, and moments later Furno was standing in the wreckage of the locker room. He glanced around, surprised to see the destruction.

"What the blazes happened here?" he asked.

"The ice bot froze us!" Samantha said. "And he took Evo's core!"

"That's not good," Furno said. "But the two of you need immediate assistance. Please close your eyes."

Samantha dutifully closed her eyes, even as Furno activated his blaster. He turned it to its lowest setting, and aimed the warm flames down over the two frozen girls. The ice rapidly began to melt, and after a few seconds it was now a mere puddle on the floor. Both girls were able to stand up, both drenched as if they had just taken a cold shower, but otherwise unharmed. Only Samantha had a few skin burns where the ice had broken off her.

"Where is this ice bot that froze you?" Furno demanded.

Samantha bit her lip, trying to ignore the stinging in her arm. "The robot is escaping with Evo's core. You need to get it back from him."

"Just point me in the right direction," Furno said.

Samantha paused. "We don't know which way he went. And we think there are two of them here; one to cause a distraction, and one to go after the cores."

"Wait, maybe that's it!" Vicki said, shivering slightly in the ice melt. "If that robot is searching for the cores, then we know who he'll be targeting next."

"So he may be after Yolanda or Erez," Samantha said.

"Or he may be going after unattended Hero Cores," Vicki pointed out.

Furno narrowed his eyes. "He's after the captured Bulk Hero Core!"


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Samantha, Vicki, and Furno raced towards the administration building, where Ricardo had told them the Hero Core was being kept in a secure vault in the basement. Samantha could quickly tell that they were going in the right direction, as the front door was busted down, and inside two soldiers had been similarly flash frozen.

Furno quickly melted the two soldiers, and Samantha helped one to his feet. "Did a white robot do this?" she asked.

The soldier nodded. "He caught us by surprised. We got off a couple of rounds before he hit us, and then we were both stuck in ice." He nodded to Furno. "Thank you for thawing us."

"Sounds like he's as bulletproof as the rest of us," Furno grumbled.

"Why weren't there more guards?" Vicki asked.

"Got called away by the other robot that's rampaging down by the docks," the other soldier said. "Hope they're having better luck."

"Freeze!" Suddenly, fresh soldiers stormed into the building, training their weapons on Furno. But before they could open fire, Samantha leapt in between them and her Hero. "Wait, stop, he's on our side!" she said. She held up her tracking bracelet. "See, we're with the taskforce."

"Hold your fire," the unfrozen soldier said. "This is a friendly. He just melted the two of us free. The bogie is a similar type of robot, only it's white and can shoot ice."

The other soldiers lowered their weapons, but Samantha turned to the guard who had just spoken. "We think he's after the Hero Core that Captain Ricardo had locked away in here. Can you lead us to it?"

The soldier hesitated, but then glanced up at Furno. "Yes, miss, I can do that," he said. "Everybody else, secure the perimeter. Red robot, follow me."

"Probably best of I lead," Furno said. "I don't think your human firearms stand a chance against this bot."

It turns out they hardly needed a guide, because the path of destruction left behind was quite apparent. They came across more frozen people on their way down into the structure's basement. Some were soldiers, while others were techs or businessmen. Furno was able to quickly thaw them out as he went; the process was slowing him down, but as a Hero he couldn't ignore those who needed help.

Finally, they reached the vault in the subbasement. Furno entered first, and sighted the enemy bot on the far side. He had been repeatedly freezing and smashing the vault door, and it had taken some time for him to break through. But now he entered the vault, and quickly snagged the stored Hero Core they had retrieved from Sao Paulo.

Furno activated his blaster and pointed it at the bot. "Stay where you are, bot, and put your hands where I can see them. Hero Factory is on the scene."

The bot turned, and Furno paused as he recognized him. "Stormer?"

Stormer neither replied to Furno nor followed his demands. Instead, he activated his ice gun and pointed it at Furno.

"Wait, Stormer, you don't need to do this!" Furno said. "There's probably been some misunderstanding, but we're on the same side. These people are our allies!"

Stormer remained silent and continued walking forward, his weapon trained on Furno. But he hadn't fired yet.

Furno frowned. "Have you been compromised? Von Nebula did something to us, making us reliant on masters. They can manipulate us; they did it to Bulk, and we barely defeated him. But we can still work this out, Stormer. We don't have to fight."

But Stormer wasn't listening, and he blasted Furno with ice. This had effectively frozen all the humans he had come across, but Furno was different. He summoned his shield and used his elemental powers to heat it, allowing him to easily weather the blast. As he lowered his shield, he saw that Stormer's usual blue eyes were now crimson red.

"You have been compromised!" Furno realized. "But you can still fight it, Stormer!"

Stormer summoned his ice sword and charged forward, ready to impale Furno. Furno parried with his shield, but he was thrown backwards. He hit the far wall, and then activated his own sword, even as Stormer pressed in for a second attack. Their blades clashed, with the sound echoing throughout the vault.

Furno fought back, but Stormer was an excellent swordsman. The two had previously sparred together often, but while Furno had managed to squeeze in some victories, a majority of them went to Stormer. Only this time, Stormer was going for the kill, with a stone cold focus to back him up. Furno was able to parry the strongest blows, but he was still being pushed back.

Stormer feigned an attack, and then savagely kicked at Furno when he was exposed. The force sent Furno flying backwards, where he crumpled against the wall in the main hallway. Stormer stepped out, ready to finish his former teammate, when he became aware of a small squadron of soldiers filling the hall.

"Fire!" their leader shouted, and a barrage of bullets flew and struck Stormer. They did little damage, and Stormer readied his ice gun to flash freeze the lot of them. But then he noticed that they weren't aiming mindlessly at him, but were focusing on the small pouch strapped to his side, which was made of leather and stood out from his otherwise metal armor. A few shots struck the pouch's straps, and it fell off his waist, spilling its contents: two Hero Cores.

Vicki, standing behind the wall of soldiers with Samantha, noticed this. "Evo, activate!" she screamed down the hallway. This was just enough, and her voice reached the core. Evo quickly activated, but he was too slow to react to his new situation. Stormer managed to grab him and throw him towards Furno, and the two Heroes went down in a heap.

Stormer assessed the situation for a moment. He could easily take on one Hero, but two in a confined space would give them the advantage. He decided to retreat with what spoils he had. He grabbed Bulk's fallen core and raced the other way down the hallway, even as the soldiers opened fire again.

"What just happened?" Evo wondered, pushing himself off of Furno. "Was that Stormer just now?"

"Yes, it was," Furno said darkly. "And he's also been compromised."

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Breez was facing down Toxic Reapa. Both of them were quick and nimble, but Toxic Reapa's acid powers kept Breez from bringing the fight closer in. Instead, Breez was doing her best to contain Toxic Reapa's rampage, as the villain continued to smash through buildings and equipment.

Breez threw her boomerang, diverting Toxic Reapa from charging into the mess hall where people had taken cover. Toxic Reapa sighted it and scurried to the side, avoiding its blow. She responded with another spray of acid towards Breez. Breez nimbly leapt up in the air and avoided the blast, even as it dissolved the grass on the ground below her. As she landed, Toxic Reapa was already pressing forward, ready to spray more acid. Breez was tempted to use her air powers again, but earlier attempts proved that she would merely spread the acid spray.

"Just one hero?" Toxic Reapa mocked. "And here I thought I would be getting a challenge today."

"One is more than enough," Breez shot back, but realistically she knew that she needed some help. She could keep Toxic Reapa from further damaging the structures of the military base, but on her own she couldn't directly attack the villain without getting a face full of acid. She needed a second Hero to flank Toxic Reapa; at the moment, they were only in a stalemate.

Or so it would appear. Unbeknownst to Breez, Toxic Reapa had been conserving her acid spray, allowing her vats on her back to replenish. And now she was nearly at capacity, so it was time to up her ante. She fired two simultaneous streams, trapping Breez in between them, and then changed the Hero. Breez quickly recognized the trap, but there wasn't much she could do to escape. She raced forward, and then jumped at the last minute, summoning a blast of wind as she did so. She was hoping the air would carry her far above Toxic Reapa and allow her to avoid the acid spray. But Toxic Reapa adjusted her aim, and part of the acid hit Breez in midair.

Breez crashed to the ground painfully. She did a quick assessment of the damage, and it was not good. Her arm joints had received heavy damage, and parts of her armor had melted off entirely. She was sure it would regenerate given time, but she couldn't condense down to her core now. But her leg joints were still operating, so she realized she had to retreat.

Breez was up and running, but Toxic Reapa was a short ways behind her, and her range on the acid had increased. Breez was forced to dodge wildly, and structures and vehicles suffered collateral damage.

Breez took a turn but quickly cursed herself. She had circled around back to the docks, and now she found herself blocked in. She tried to double back, but Toxic Reapa had already stepped in behind her. "End of the line, hero," she snarled.

Breez braced for the oncoming attack, but suddenly there was a funnel of water that rose up out of the bay and blasted into Toxic Reapa, knocking her back.

Breez turned to sight her backup. "Evo, about time!"

"Sorry, this has been a multi-tier attack, and I got caught up with the other fight," Evo said, pointing his pike at Toxic Reapa. "But Furno is handling that now, and sent me to back you up."

Toxic Reapa scowled. "And you think you can best me, little Hero?" she said, firing more acid.

Evo summoned his shield and positioned himself in front of Breez. The acid spray struck his shield but failed to dissolve it. "It's acid resistant," Evo explained. "It actually came in quite handy the last time I had to take Toxic Reapa down."

"And how did you take her down last time?" Breez asked.

Evo hesitated. "Okay, mostly I held out until backup arrived. But I wore her down."

"Well, this time, how about you dilute her acid," Breez suggested.

Evo nodded, and focused on his elemental powers. Jets of seawater started to shoot out of the bay behind him, dousing Toxic Reapa. Her acid powers couldn't stop this elemental onslaught, and she held up her arms to shield her face from the rushing waters. As the attack died down, she looked up just in time to see Breez closing in. Breez lashed out with a solid kick, striking Toxic Reapa squarely in the jaw. She stumbled backwards, and prepared to dissolve Breez at close proximity. But Evo had also been moving, and he came up behind her and struck her with his pike.

Toxic Reapa started taking blow after blow from the two Heroes, who weren't giving her time to retaliate. Finally, she managed to dart away and get some distance, so she turned and readied her sprayers. But Evo already had another wave of water aimed for her position, and it slammed her hard into the docks.

"This is getting irksome," Toxic Reapa grumbled. But she grinned as she looked at the destruction all around her. "Yet I suppose my task has been completed, so it's time for me to take my leave."

Before the Heroes could react, Toxic Reapa jumped off the dock and landed in the water, where she abruptly started to swim away.

"She can swim too?" Breez complained.

"I guess so," Evo said. "But she's not faster than me in the water."

But Toxic Reapa wasn't done yet. "Something to remember me by, Heroes," she shouted, as she surfaced near one of the battleships. She fired one last blast of acid, which ate through the hull of the ship and allowed water to start rushing in.

Evo was about to dive in after her, but then Breez blocked his path. "Wait!" she said. "There are soldiers on that vessel. We can't let it sink until they're properly evacuated."

"Understood," Evo said darkly. "I guess she gets to escape today." He dove under the water, but instead headed for the ship. Using his strength, he braced it up before it could sink further. Breez was able to alert the soldiers, who started evacuating off the boat, while others started to deploy a repair boat to close up the leak before it got worse.

"You're doing a good job there, Hero," Breez called down to Evo. "But tell me, what was the other tier of this attack? Who is Furno facing?"

"You're not going to believe this," Evo said. "But the other enemy was Stormer."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Stormer ran through the military base, taking no further efforts to remain inconspicuous. His earlier mission had required the use of stealth as he approached the base, and then go directly for his targets once the diversion was underway. Unfortunately, three of the Hero cores had been activated, and Stormer had been told to avoid lengthy confrontations.

But one such confrontation refused to be let go. Furno was racing behind Stormer, attempting catch up to the rouge Hero before he could escape. And, unfortunately for him, Stormer was not built for speed.

Stormer turned and fired an ice blast at Furno, hoping to at least temporarily stall him. But Furno dodged aside, and then shot a fire blast at Stormer, forcing him to go on the defensive. Before Stormer could flee further, Furno was on top of him, swinging his sword again. Stormer drew his own bladed and parried.

The two fought on the far edge of the base, far enough removed from the rest of the structures that there was little for Stormer to wreck. Instead, he focused on fighting against Furno, who was pouring his all into the battle. He used his very best sword techniques, but Stormer was able to expertly counter them. Furno realized that Stormer still retained his battle experience; his moves were no different than when Furno had seen them in use in training or out in the field. But Stormer's personality and sense of right and wrong seemed to have completely vanished. It was far more apparent than when he had faced Bulk, because although the Hero of Metal had been following the orders of a criminal, he still has his stubbornness and sense of pride. In that regard, Stormer now seemed to be like a blank slate.

Furno pitched forward, turning his leap into a roll as he avoided Stormer's attacks. Stormer followed up with another ice blast, which Furno narrowly dodged. He turned and charged right towards Stormer, his sword pointed ahead of him. His plan was to knock down Stormer with his full momentum, even if Stormer parried his blade. But Stormer waited until the last moment and sidestepped, causing Furno to miss completely. Before Furno could recover, Stormer struck him in the back, causing severe damage to his shoulder joints. Furno hit the ground, and struggled to rise.

Seeing that his opponent was down, Stormer decided to keep him that way. He stepped hard onto his back and deactivated his sword. Next, he focused his ice gun on Furno's crumpled form, ready to freeze him for good. But before he could fire, he became aware of an incoming vehicle. He looked up to see a truck barreling towards him. But instead of dodging, Stormer stood his ground, and the truck smashed up against him like it had hit a brick wall. The hood bent up and the engine sputtered and died, while releasing a cloud of smoke.

However, the occupants had braced for an impact, and were quick to exit the vehicle. It was Adam and David, and they were armed with two large weapons. Stormer wasn't impressed, and pointed his ice gun at them. But moments later, something else struck him, and exploded in a burst of green energy. Stormer righted himself and recognized the attack of Nex's energy bow. However, as he scanned the horizon, he couldn't spot the orange Hero. Nex was an expert marksmen, and she could've struck Stormer from a great distance with precision accuracy.

"So you're the Hero that's been turning people into ice cubes?" David asked. "Well, ice to meet you, but you need to chill out, so why don't you just freeze already?"

"Dude, that was bad, even for you," Adam commented

"And he's not listening either," David yelped, as Stormer fired at him. He dodged to the side, even as another of Nex's green bolts struck Stormer. But the bolts weren't powerful enough to take him down, and he moved to attack the twins again.

"Okay, our turn," Adam said, aiming his own weapon. "Fire!"

Adam and David fired their weapons, which each shot a metal capsule that hit Stormer and stuck to his armor. Stormer was unfazed at first, but then the capsules activated, sending powerful electric shocks through him. This started to affect Stormer's control over his limbs, and gave the twins a chance to fire again.

"Looks like it's working," David said, firing a third time. "However, now we're out of ammo!"

Stormer stepped back, clearly weakened. He aimed his ice blaster at them again, but the electric shocks had disrupted his internal circuitry, and he was unable to trigger his elemental attack. Instead, he chose to retreat yet again, sprinting towards the St. Johns River, whose mouth the NS Mayport military base was built along.

"Can you track him, Nex?" Adam asked, over his com.

"Only partially," Nex said. "I am a great distance away, and he's heading for the river. Unfortunately, Stormer can also swim, and from this distance I won't be able to track his heat signature. I can try to follow, but I fear I would not be able to catch up in time." She paused, and added, "Stormer was always a brilliant tactician. There were only a few routes he could've taken that I couldn't have followed, and that was one of them. He even learned of my general position when I fired."

"Then this capture is a bust," David said glumly. "Even Furno here is too damaged to follow."

"Nex, you and Erez make your way back to the main base," Adam said. "Our ride is mangled up anyway, and it sounds like things are crazy enough that we won't be able to get wheels out to you any time soon." He nodded to Furno. "Can you walk, or do we need to get Samantha?"

"I can manage," Furno said, getting to his feet. "I suppose your timely arrival did stop Stormer from defeating me."

"We do have the tact to appear right when we're needed," David agreed. "But right now, we've got to figure out just how bad this attack was. From the sounds of it, the entire base suffered damage."

"It is bad," Nex said over coms. "I can already spot half a dozen structures whose integrity has been compromised, and that's from a distance."

"We're heading in now," David said. "Nex, we could probably use your help in the rescue efforts, if you can get by shortly. We'll do our best to instruct our fellow soldiers not to shoot at you."

Furno's legs were undamaged, but his arms hung limp at his sides. Although he knew he couldn't assist much in the recovery effort, he followed the twins back to the base. But still, he glanced back in the direction his former mentor had fled. "Just what has happened to you, Stormer?" he wondered.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Five miles away, on the northern shore of the St. Johns River, Toxic Reapa pulled herself up out of the swamp and stepped onto land. She shook off some of the muck, and turned to the two humans who were awaiting her, although they had stepped back to avoid getting splattered. "I have returned," she said. "How'd I do?"

"From what I can tell, you did a wonderful job," Mr. Dax said. "What do you think, Nadia?"

Miss Seychell frowned. "Your acid was effective, but it seems like you let the Heroes lead you around like a dog. They played you."

"I've fought Heroes before, lady flesh bag," Toxic Reapa said. "They weren't playing with me; they were barely struggling to get by."

"But they did effectively defeat you in the end," Miss Seychell pointed out.

"Well, you could've warned me that I'd be facing that nasty Evo," Toxic Reapa spat. "That one controls the water to his liking, irks me to no end." She narrowed her squat eyes. "And how did you know so much about that fight? Did you place a camera on me like you did with zombie Stormer?"

"Nonsense," Mr. Dax said. "Even if we had attempted to do so, it would've been quickly damaged in the fight, thanks to your potent acid. However, we did get a decent view." He held up his tablet and then pointed up. Hovering a hundred feet in the air above them was a drone, which was relaying its footage down to Mr. Dax's tablet. From that vantage point, he was able to zoom in and view the NS Mayport military base, where they could still see the smoke and destruction.

"As unfortunate as it was that the Heroes regrouped and got the better of you, you did manage to achieve your mission objective," Mr. Dax said. "The military personnel were thoroughly distracted by your display, allowing Stormer to make his play."

Toxic Reapa shuttered. "It feels icky to be on the same side as Stormer," she said. "Speaking of, where is that former Hero?"

"He is en route, although he's taking a longer course to avoid detection," Miss Seychell replied. "And although we are well hidden in this marshland, it would be prudent for you to return to a less conspicuous form."

"Very well, Master," Toxic Reapa said with a shrug. "Let me out to play again soon. A girl needs to spray some acid every now and again to feel good." Her armor started shrinking, and soon Toxic Reapa was condensed into a small core with a V on the front.

"All in all, I'd consider this a success," Mr. Dax said, and Miss Seychell retrieved her core.

"There were plenty of setbacks," Miss Seychell pointed out.

"All a learning experience," Mr Dax said. "The footage we got from Stormer's camera will be useful. We know that the military has four Heroes in their employ, and at least a couple of them are attached to those kids. The fifth one, however, was under lock and key; perhaps that was the Hero they retrieved in Brazil. It's a shame Stormer was only able to steal that one core, but it will come in handy."

"I understand the need to get the cores out of the hands of our opponents," Miss Seychell said. "But why the drastic actions to steal them like this?"

"The Hero Cores will play a larger role in my future plans," Mr. Dax said. "They're sort of like the batteries I'll need down the line, so I must collect as many as I can. But now we have a better idea of the various abilities used by these Heroes, which we can use to our advantage. And meanwhile, the wreckage of a major military facility will keep them plenty busy, and they'll be unable to focus their efforts on us."

"Of course," Miss Seychell said. "So what are your plans now?"

"We just need to wrap things up here," Mr. Dax said. "We'll rendezvous with Stormer, and then get that spare core shipped to the Californian office. Then we'll be getting on a flight to Tokyo." He grinned. "We've got a party to attend."


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"I don't know how else to put it," Captain Ricardo said. "This was a bloody disaster."

"I know of a few other colorful curse words you could use, if you're looking for some profanity diversity," David put in. But the look from Ricardo silenced him.

It was early evening, and Yolanda's team was regrouping after the dual attacks by Toxic Reapa and Stormer. Yolanda had some light bandages on her arms and neck, due to being caught in a partial building collapse. Samantha and Vicki had undergone full body examinations since they had been partially frozen, along with a dozen other soldiers that had the misfortune to come across Stormer. Physically, both of them were fine, but Samantha was still applying soothing cream to the ice burns on her arm.

The Heroes were also in attendance, although some of them were still a little worse for wear. Both Breez and Furno had sustained substantial damage, and although they spent some time healing in their cores, Yolanda wanted them reactivated for the debriefing, which meant that they had to return to form before their recovery was complete. Evo had received minimal damage, and Nex hadn't been caught in the fight at all.

The only one not present was Dr. Snowden, who was still looking after those injured in the attack. But everybody else had gathered to discuss what their next move would be.

"The damage is quite substantial," Ricardo continued. "Twenty building sustained damage, and at least five are structurally unsafe. Three battleships were damaged, including the one that had a hole melted into it. Countless vehicles and other equipment were lost, and whether by design or by coincidence, this includes the equipment for our op. We have dozens of soldiers who were injured, as well as a dozen or so who were literally frozen into solid blocks of ice." He rubbed his forehead. "And all this from an enemy who appeared and disappeared without a trace."

"I was able to track Stormer's movement down the coastline," Nex said. "But I lost the trail where he crossed a road. If I were to hazard a guess, that's where he probably returned to his human master and shrunk down to a Hero Core."

"The generals at the top will not like to hear that," Ricardo said. "There's a potentially dangerous robot and it could be in the hands of any civilian."

"It would have to be somebody well connected too," Yolanda said. "They could afford these attack drones, and clearly were able to track us down to this base. And they had the foresight to prepare an attack that would blindside us."

"They didn't track us via the drone we captured," Erez stated. "It's completely dead, the forensic guys verified that."

"It's not out of the question that they could have radiation tracking technology,' Yolanda said. "As much as I hate to admit it, the twins have a point about us having a target painted on our backs with these Heroes; with the right systems they can easily be tracked across the globe. Even if they only knew we were in the Jacksonville area, they could've still reasoned out our location at this base."

"Stormer had some way to pinpoint the locations of the cores too," Samantha said. "He came straight for Furno's and Evo's, and then went for Bulk's. He wasn't randomly searching; he knew exactly where they were."

"He could've had something built into his helmet," Nex stated. "Similar to how we have retrofitted our communicators to match with your human equipment."

"They found us once, which stands to reason that they can find us again," Yolanda said. "So give me the lowdown; who are these robots that we're facing?"

"I know of Toxic Reapa, since I've arrested her before," Evo said. "She's a swamp dweller, which means she's good in the water and on land. She doesn't look like it, but she can scurry around quickly, making her difficult to capture. Her primary weapons are two acid sprayers, and she can control the rate and discharge. Her acid is also very powerful, and will melt through the thickest of armor. Her body does produce it, but she can only use so much at a time, so in theory she could run dry during a battle. Unfortunately, she's shrewd enough that she'll begin to use it sparingly but never runs out completely. I hear she's terrible at hand to hand combat, but her acid is so effective that she rarely has to resort to that."

"She was a villain we faced in Makuhero City," Breez said. "In the battle just before we were sucked into Von Nebula's portal. The same can be said of the rock villain Bruizer. If those two were also brought to this world, others might be here too. And there were a lot of first rate villains fighting us last time."

"However, they still face the limitations that we do," Nex pointed out. "They likely rely on human masters who can give them commands. However, the likes of Toxic Reapa and Bruizer wouldn't object to destructive methods like us Heroes, making them more powerful in the hands of a reckless enemy."

"Although that doesn't seem to apply to all you Heroes," Adam said. "There was Bulk down in Sao Paulo. Now, I get that he was manipulated, but he never actually held back either. And then this Stormer fellow trashed the base just as badly as Toxic Reapa. He was ready to permanently freeze me and David; there was no 'good guy under a spell' look to him today."

All the Heroes paused, unwilling to speak out against Stormer. To break the silence, Yolanda asked, "Tell us more about him."

"Stormer was the ideal Hero from Hero factory," Breez said. "He was one of the first Heroes constructed, and he's been leading us since before any of us present were even initiated into Hero Factory. He's an expert fighter, an expert tactician, and has as much experience as the four of us put together."

"So basically he's your idol," Adam said. "Your superstar. Your, for lack of a better term, Hero."

"So why was he your enemy today?" David asked.

"Clearly he is being manipulated, much like Bulk was," Breez stated. "Only his master must be shrewder than the man from Sao Paulo."

"It's not just that," Furno said. "When I fought Bulk, his personality was still there. He was still Bulk, with his stubborn nature and palpable pride. He didn't even want to hurt us at first, and only did so once it was part of his instructions." He paused. "At least, until we did some serious damage to him. After that, I think he was a tad bit angry at us."

"And in the end, he still did his best to kill some of us," David pointed out.

"Yes, I know," Furno said. "But he was essentially still Bulk. But Stormer… that was not Stormer who attacked us. It had his body and his strategic brilliance, but there was no personality in there. That was merely the shell of Stormer, and all the stuff that had made him a Hero was wiped out."

"But that's not how this miniaturization program works," Nex said. "It doesn't overwrite our personalities, it just makes us obedient to a single individual, who can only activate us in the first place if the personalities match."

"So then something else wiped Stormer," Furno said. "Maybe it was this mysterious yet resourceful human. Maybe some of the other villains are involved, which is possible since we already know Toxic Reapa was working with him."

"So not only has he been compromised, but he's also been completely reprogrammed," Breez stated. "At this stage, there might be nothing left of the original Stormer to salvage."

"I refuse to believe that," Furno said. "What we really need to do is capture him, like we did with Bulk, so we can keep him from doing anything dangerous. We can worry about restoring him later."

"Except that we no longer have Bulk," Ricardo said. "This Stormer was unable to steal the cores of our active Heroes, but he did break in and steal the Bulk Hero Core. And he got away with it."

"Not only was he able to locate the cores and take them, but he also recognized when he was outnumbered, and tried to retreat with his spoils," David said. "That tells me he still has some intelligence left in him, even if the whole heroic persona is gone."

"Speaking of which, how did you two stop him?" Vicki asked. "I'm pretty sure we verified that he was bulletproof."

"Yes, but not electric-proof," David said with a grin. "We were looking at the prototypes in the research lab when we got wind of the attack on the base, and they let us borrow them and take them for a test drive."

"Ever since we encountered the Heroes, we've realized that guns won't necessarily work on them," Adam explained. "So they developed a launcher that would shoot these capsules that would discharge on contact, providing a strong electric jolt to the robot."

"I looked over them and verified that they would be effective against some bots," Nex said. "Their discharge is similar to the electrical powers of a fellow Hero, Surge, and he was able to use his abilities quite effectively in combat. Granted, they wouldn't work on all bots, specifically those with an ability to reroute electricity. But against Stormer or Toxic Reapa, they would be effective." She paused. "They would also be effective against the four of us here."

"That's assuming you could hit me with them," Furno added. "You two had point blank shots at Stormer, and he was caught off guard, so that helped you."

"Well, they still need to tweak them a bit," Adam said. "The power levels weren't that great, and you only get three shots per weapon. But they're already at work to perfect them, and with them we'll have a better defense against these Heroes. They're a bit gangly for field use, but would be ideal for base defense."

"That is good to know," Ricardo said. "We'll need to get these distributed to our various bases where we're housing sensitive information that could lure the Heroes in. And that includes the four Heroes we have left."

Yolanda frowned. "That makes it sound like we're not going to be in the field anymore."

Ricard sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. This attack is getting attention nationwide. Washington is already asking questions, and I need to be on a flight up tonight to fill them in on the details."

"Yeah, we saw their coverage on the news earlier," Adam said. "It looks like our cover story is that a gas leak blew up half the base."

"An oldie but a goodie," David commented. "It explains the damage and emergency response, which we can't necessarily hide from the public, but still conceals the fact that it was a pair of giant robots who caused the mess."

"And we need to keep that part quiet, otherwise there would be panic," Ricardo said. "Not to mention more questions we don't want to answer. Meanwhile, there's been a huge loss of equipment, and we're going to have to divert all available manpower here for rebuilding efforts. This doesn't leave us any resources for our planned op in Japan. The Duter Intuition will have to wait."

"But they might've been behind this attack in the first place!" Samantha protested.

"And if they were, it was a wise tactical move on their part," Ricardo said. "We no longer have the resources required to stage a takeover of their facility."

"That's unfortunate and all," Adam said. "But that means it's time for us to initiate Plan B."

"Plan B?" Ricardo asked, frowned.

Yolanda grimaced. "I don't like the sound of this."

"We can't go in guns a 'blazing, mostly because all our guns just got melted via acid," David said. "So we need to take a stealthier approach."

"It'll be primarily intel gathering at first," Adam continued. "We'll figure out what they know, gather the evidence we need to prove they were against us."

"And once we know all the details, we set a trap," David said. "We've still got four working Heroes, so if we plan things out again, then we have them in a nicely gift wrapped box."

"Just like how we played it in Brazil," Adam said. "Except with fewer robots running into traffic. And hopefully they don't just turn around and steal the Hero Cores from us again."

"And how would you manage to sneak in?" Yolanda said. "You kind of glossed over that part."

However, both of the twins grinned. "We've already got it figured out," Adam said. "We attend his little banquet, and while they're busy partying it up, we'll sneak in and find what we need to know."

"We get what we need with a fraction of the manpower and equipment," David finished. "Surgical precision, as it were."

"You two are like performing surgery with a hacksaw," Yolanda commented.

"Yeah, it's really too bad we don't have a track record for having pulled these kind of infiltrations off before," Adam said. "Oh wait, we do."

"What about that Beijing incident?"

"Okay, eighty percent success rate," Adam said. "But this won't be a plan between David and me; we'll have our whole team in on this and use your input."

"Please tell me you're not considering this," Yolanda said to Ricardo.

Ricardo gave a weak shrug. "They're right; we have no other resources, and this might give us the leads we've been working on. I hate to say it, but our best bet could be another Jocosus mission."

"That's what I like to hear from a superior officer!" Adam said, rubbing his hands together. "So who's ready to attend a party in Tokyo?"


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Miss Seychell hastily opened her hotel room door, and quickly tossed her bags inside. It had been a long flight for her to Tokyo, and an even longer ride through traffic to get from the airport to her hotel. Mr. Dax had already headed to their office in the region to meet with employees, in an effort to keep up appearances. This gave Miss Seychell the afternoon off to spend as she wished, as their next plans would come together later in the evening. She mostly planned on relaxing, especially after the rushed trip to Jacksonville, Florida.

She pulled off her jacket even as she kicked off her heels, already envisioning a relaxing bath. But as she tossed her jacket onto the bed, she soon realized it was not unoccupied. Wrapped up in the sheets was none other than Gerald, who looked very surprised to see her.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked acidly, narrowing her eyes.

"Sorry, I just needed the bed and…" Gerald started.

"I booked these rooms, and this one was for me, personally," she snapped. "How did you get in here?"

"Well, I just asked for a spare key from the front desk, since this was technically booked in a block of rooms, so they gave me access," Gerald said.

"And the reason you needed this room was because…" Miss Seychell narrowed her eyes, now noticing the young woman under the covers with Gerald.

"Because it's a lot nicer than the room I got stuck in," Gerald said. "I swear, I thought you weren't going to be in until later tonight."

"Get out of here!" Miss Seychell snapped.

The young Japanese lady darted up, already re-buttoning her blouse. She shouted at Gerald in Japanese as she grabbed the rest of her clothes and shoes before running out the door.

"Ah man, you scared her off!" Gerald said. "We were just about to start making out!"

"So that was the reason you needed my room?" Miss Seychell demanded. "So you could have a quick fling with the local maids."

"Please, she's not a maid," Gerald said. "She's just a really hot secretary that I happened to meet, and we hit it off."

"Your father didn't drag you out here to make out with every oriental who makes eye contact with you," Miss Seychell snapped.

"Oh, this wasn't just about the fling," Gerald said, and he pulled out a keycard. "That was just the bonus."

"What's that?" Miss Seychell asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a security access card to the Duter Institute headquarters," Gerald said smugly. "Mazhar instructed me to swipe one, but he didn't specify how. So I sighted one of the secretaries and charmed her. It worked out better than I expected." He twirled the card in his hand. "But you'll want to get its coding stuff copied soon; it won't be long before she realizes she's missing it. I'd want to give it right back to her quickly, to avoid suspicions. I was told that you can see to that."

"I'll deal with that later," she said. "Now get out. Don't you have something better to do?"

"No, I'm good," Gerald said, straightening his own clothes. "Unless you'd like to keep undressing."

Miss Seychell narrowed her eyes. "I can't help but noticing, kid, but you seem quite infatuated with me."

"I mean, I guess so," Gerald said, trying to play it off as cool. "You're hot and all, even if you work for my dad."

"But you're quite attractive yourself," Miss Seychell continues, walking closer to him. "You seem to flirt with all the other women, but never with me."

Gerald hesitated, sensing some sort of trap. "Maybe because you're always so defensive about it," he said slowly.

"Yes, but a lady like me still has needs," Miss Seychell said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps there are some fantasies I want to do with you."

"Fantasies?" Gerald asked eagerly. "What kind?"

"Maybe something like this," Miss Seychell said, and with a sudden swiftness she wrapped her hand around his neck.

Gerald sputtered. "Wait, that hurts…"

"Oh, does it?" Miss Seychell mocked. "Does it make you feel uncomfortable? Do you not like these unwelcomed advances?

Gerald was starting to sense the cruel irony of the situation. "No, no I don't," he wheezed.

"Then perhaps we finally have something in common," Miss Seychell hissed into his ear. "Now, I don't want to catch you ogling me again, or I won't be so gentle next time. Do we have an understanding, Master Gerald?"

"I… yes, yes, I get it," Gerald said. "I'm sorry, I watch you anymore, I swear."

"Good," Miss Seychell said, releasing his neck. "Now, you will take that keycard, and you will tell Mazhar to get off his lazy ass and drive you to Mirai Tech, where your father will get it copied. Then you will return it to its owner. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Gerald squeaked.

"Good," Miss Seychell said. "Now, get out of my hotel room!"

Gerald hastily retreated out of the room. Finally alone, Miss Seychell prepared herself a bath. "That was refreshing," she said to herself. "I should've done that to him ages ago."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Samantha and the others arrived at their hotel late at night. Their flight over had taken the better part of a day, but this had given the twins plenty of time to research and plan for their infiltration.

"Our main ploy will be to arrive at the headquarters as guests for the party," Adam had explained. "We'll mingle a bit, get a lay out of the crowd and such…"

"You two want to gate crash the party," Yolanda had interjected.

"It will allow us to blend in," David explained. "It would be more suspicious to arrive and then immediately disappear. Plus, a significant portion of this will involve Mr. Duter's presentation, and while that's drawing everybody's attention, we will have an opening to sneak in."

"We'll need to do a bit more research on the facility, but our primary goal will be to gather intel," Adam continued. "We need to make sure he's dirty and has his hands on a Hero. If we can get into the network, we can plant a tracer and remotely hack in."

"And what if his cyber security is better than our cracking capabilities?" Yolanda asked.

"That's why we're sneaking in," David said. "There's no way we could gain access from a remote station on our own. But their firewalls can't be as powerful behind their closed doors; otherwise their employees would never be able to get anything done."

"Our task is just to make sure we can get behind those physical closed doors," Adam said. "And that could prove trickier, and might require some super spy techniques."

"Like the two of you have any of those to begin with," Yolanda grumbled. "We're not in a spy movie, you know."

"Myself, David, and Yolanda will be the primary infiltrators," Adam said. "Meanwhile, Erez and Dr. Snowy will provide support from a remote location. Their job will begin in earnest once we're able to plug into their systems."

"Wait, you're going to have me hack into the system of a prestigious tech company?" Erez asked. He voice had had a mixture of nervousness and excitement in it.

"You'll be using some high end software, and you'll be under Dr. Snowy's watchful eye," David said. "But, essentially, you will be the hacker extraordinaire."

"And what about me and Vicki?" Samantha had asked. "Do you not have a role for us?"

"You two will be our muscle," Adam said.

Vicki had frowned. "I know we got a little bit of training, but I don't think the two of us could really help in terms of muscle power."

"I meant, you two have your Heroes," Adam corrected. "You'll attend the party with us, just in case things go horribly sideways and we need some big robots to help us."

"What are you two planning that will require the Heroes?" Yolanda asked.

"We're not planning, per say, it's more of a precaution," David said. "Duter might have a Hero up his sleeve, and that Hero may or may not have just attacked our military compound. We're not making any assumptions that things won't escalate quickly." He had sighed. "And if it comes to that, the Heroes will primarily be there to cover our retreat. Granted, if that does happen, it does kind of cement the fact that Duter is involved with these Heroes."

"We'll need to do some more planning and research tomorrow, in order to fine tune this plan," Adam had concluded. "But that's it in a nutshell."

But while the long airplane ride had been a great chance for them to swap idea about the plan, or at least listen to Yolanda criticize it, the long flight had made Samantha restless. They landed in a military airport near the city of Tokyo, Japan, and then took a car to stay at a hotel near the Duter Institute headquarters. As they drove, Samantha could see the brilliantly lit skyline of Tokyo, which was truly breathtaking. Although it was dark out and they had a busy day planned ahead of them, Samantha was not ready to go to bed.

The same could be said of Vicki, who was hardly containing her excitement. Visiting Japan had been one of her life goals, to the point where she started learning the Japanese language far before she had any solid plans for traveling. She had already studied up on Japanese culture, and was very eager to go out and explore the city. However, as Yolanda kept reminding her, they were not visiting as tourists and couldn't spend time sightseeing.

Even as they entered the hotel, Vicki was beside herself, and kept enthusiastically greeting the employees in Japanese, although most of them already spoke English. The hotel the twins had booked was a luxury one, which often hosted rich clientele. Yolanda had balked at the price, but was forced to admit that it would help with their cover as wealthy visitors. All the same, she had insisted they all squeeze into a single room to cut down on costs.

"Ricardo won't be happy with this bill," she said, as they moved the last of their luggage inside. "And it's not like we have that big of a budget anyway."

"Well, money's one thing the Hero didn't trash back in Florida," Adam said. "Ricardo was planning to send a platoon of troops out here; in the end, this plan is costing taxpayers a lot less."

"I am curious as to how we're going to get a last minute invite to this party," Yolanda said. "We're not exactly in the tech industry, and you two already have a history of annoying our host."

"True, but we have a way to grease their palms and invite us in, opened arms," Adam said.

Yolanda frowned. "How?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "We've already made a big donation; got it organized from the plane. They've already forwarded us our invitations."

"A donation? How big?"

"A few thousands or so," Adam said offhandedly. "Per person."

"What!" shrieked Yolanda. "Are you insane? We don't have that kind of cash lying around…"

"Well, actually, we do," David said, having heard Yolanda's outburst from the hallway. "The donation was from our personal accounts. Ricardo said he can cover the other costs, but we did the bulk of the heavy lifting. Adam really should've led with that."

Yolanda was caught off guard. "But that has to be a significant part of your budget," she said slowly.

"Yep, it's a sizeable chunk, and we even had to make sure our bank would honor it, in case they thought it was fraud," Adam said. "But we've been saving for something big like this for a while. Might as well blow it on an actual mission and put it to some good."

"That's… unusually honorable of you," Yolanda said.

"Plus, we own a bunch of stock in Duter Institute," David said. "If this is not some Hero thing they've got going on, then we're expecting to make a killing off it."

"And there's you're usual deviousness, rearing its ugly head," Yolanda said with a sigh. She looked around, as everybody was finally crammed into the single room. For a hotel room, it was quite lavish, with two queen sized beds, a sizable living area, a decent bathroom, and a great view of the city. However, it was a bit small for seven people to cram into.

"I guess it's time to turn in," Yolanda said. "The sleeping arrangement will be a bit cumbersome. We can fit the kids into one bed, and then the twins can take the other. Dr. Snowden can sleep on the couch…"

"I am actually not very tired yet," Dr. Snowden said. "I got some rest of the flight, plus generally suffer from insomnia. I'll probably continue my research overnight; I'll move down into the hotel's business center, so the rest of you can relax here. I'll take a nap in the late morning, while the rest of you are out."

"Out doing what?" Vicki asked.

"Some last minute recognizance," Adam said. "We need a layout of the land, and the best way to get that is to actually scope it out on our own. Yolanda, Erez, and I will scout around the building, and we'll get Nex activated and see if she can help spot any useful routes once inside."

Erez nodded. "I think she has some sort of x-ray vision capabilities, so she'd be able to look inside the building and get a general idea where stuff is."

"I'll look up any blueprints of the building that I can access," Dr. Snowden offered. "And then we'll compare notes."

"So what about us?" Samantha asked. She was starting to find it annoying that her role appeared to be an afterthought.

"You, Vicki, and me will be getting some supplies," David said. "After all, we have a party to attend tomorrow night, and we can't go in looking like we just stepped off a military base."

Vicki grinned widely. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Hell yes!" David said. "Girl, we're going shoppin' tomorrow!"

"Shopping for what?" Yolanda asked.

"Outfits, obviously," David said. "We'll get these two girls into some respectable dresses, to make sure they look the part. We'll also have to pick you up something, Yolanda, preferably not in camo. We'll need your dress size." He paused, and added, "Also your bust size."

Yolanda sneered at him. "I will arrange for my own outfit," she said.

"Very well," David said with a shrug. "Anyway, long day tomorrow, so you children get ready for bed."

"I'm actually not that sleepy," Samantha said.

"Well, young minds need their rest," David said.

"Stop treating me like a little kid," Samantha said. She narrowed her eyes. "You do know that Yolanda taught me how to throw a better punch."

"And you were worried they'd pick up bad habits from us," David said to Yolanda.

"All the same, you should really get some rest," Yolanda said. "We can't have you burned out tomorrow."

"Wait, wait, I know something that might help!" Vicki said, pulling out the hotel pamphlet she had been browsing. "They have an authentic Japanese bathhouse here! Well, maybe not exactly authentic, but more cultured than what we're used to! We can go for a late night soak before bed."

Yolanda frowned. "I don't think it would be a good idea to let you out of our sight…"

"We'll leave the Hero Cores up here for you to watch over," Vicki said. "Please! I've always wanted to go to a Japanese bathhouse!"

"Let them have their fun," Adam said. "The pool's in the secure part of the hotel, and it's bound to be empty this time of night. Let them get some culture or whatever before bed."

"Fine," Yolanda conceded, much to Vicki's excitement. "But just make sure you don't remove your tracking bracelets!"


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

"Why am I being dragged along into this?" Erez asked, as he followed Vicki and Samantha down the hotel's hallway.

"Because it's a great cultural experience and time to bond," Vicki said.

"Or because we've been stuck on a stuffy plane for nearly a day and could all use a wash," Samantha added.

"Calm down," Vicki said. "From what I've seen, Japanese baths are the perfect places to wind down after a long trip!'

"And where have you heard that?" Erez asked. "In an Anime?"

"I've read the manga too," Vicki said offhandedly. "And also in travel books and such. It'll be fine."

Erez paused as they came to the entrance of the bath. "Shouldn't there be two different rooms?" he asked. "One for men and one for women?"

"Don't be silly," Vicki said. "At this hotel, it's unisex."

Samantha paused too. "I wasn't ready for that kind of a bath," she said.

Vicki rolled her eyes. "That's why we'll change into our bathing suits first."

Samantha shook her head. "Even if I were fine with that, what if there are other people in there? I am not going into an occupied unisex bath."

Vicki sighed. "You two are killjoys. Look, you two change, and I'll double check to make sure we're alone first. If somebody else shows up, we will leave."

Samantha looked at Erez and shrugged. Erez finally caved in too, and said, "Fine, but you two better look away while I'm changing."

"Then let's get to this!" Vicki said.

They entered the small dressing room, and changed into their bathing suits in the shower stalls. After double-checking that the room was empty, Vicki led them into the main bathhouse. About half of the space was taken up by a tiled floor around various faucets, but the rest of the room was occupied by a long hot tub. Although it was late at night, the water was still kept at a warm temperature, with steam filling up half the room. To liven the room up, the far wall was adorned with traditional artwork, as well as some statues and even a small sōzu, which was clapping in the far corner of the room.

Vicki grinned widely. "This is so cool!" she said. "I've always wanted to come to one of these! It's not quite as nice as some of the opened air bath houses I've read about, but this totally rocks."

They quickly rinsed off at the faucets and then entered the main hot tub. Samantha lowered herself into the tub and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The warm waters felt great against her skin, especially on the exposed ice burn on her arm, which had started to heal.

"Now what?" Erez mumbled, feeling slightly uncomfortable. This was not a social experience he was used to.

Vicki laughed. "Now we can just sit back and chat."

"Chat about what?" Erez said. "We had plenty of time to chat on the plane ride over."

"Yeah, but that was with all the adults hanging around us," Vicki said. "There's just some stuff you can't really talk about when the grownups are around."

"Stuff like what?" Erez asked.

"I dunno, just whatever you want to talk about," Vicki said. "Favorite television show. New cooking recipes you've tried out." She flashed a sly grin. "Any potential crushes you have."

Erez turned even redder and sank further into the water. "Why would you want to talk about that?" he stammered.

"I think it's a healthy conversation topic," Vicki said. "I know you don't do a lot with people outside of school, but there must be some girls you like. Back me up on this, Samantha."

"Don't bring me into this," Samantha said dully. She didn't want to make Erez more uncomfortable than he looked.

"Fine," Vicki said, admitting defeat. "Well, there are some boys I like back home. There's this one guy who was in my Japanese class who was awfully cute; he was fun to flirt with."

"You'll flirt with any good looking boy," Samantha muttered. "I can't even tell if you have any real preferences."

"I have standards," Vicki snipped, but now she turned on Samantha. "What about you? Who do you have the hots for?"

Samantha blushed uncontrollably. "Nobody in particular," she said. "I don't really fit in with stuff like that, given my whole 'tomboy' status and all."

"Fine, don't share," Vicki said, rolling her eyes. "I'll just go over more details of guys I like. Now, there's that one boy who works at the city pool…"

Samantha sunk further into the water. It wasn't so much that she didn't find other boys attractive, but her self-consciousness of her unfeminine qualities prevented her from ever seriously thinking about dating. Samantha knew it shouldn't bother her, but it still did anyway. Sometimes she wished she had the self-confidence of Vicki.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard something move in the water at the far end of the tub, which was shrouded in steam. Suddenly, a new figure rose, and Samantha realized they were not quite alone.

Vicki and Erez noticed this a few moments later, as a Japanese lady seemingly appeared out of the mist. She had been sitting back in steamy part of the hot tub, which is how the three had overlooked her. She turned to the three of them and curtly said something in Japanese.

"Oh no, we're not alone!" Vicki said, quickly bowing to the lady. "Gomen'nasai, Gomen'nasai!"

The lady blinked, and then spoke in English, although with a thick accent. "You are American tourists?" she asked. "It is unusual for anybody to be in here so late." Her eyes focused on Erez. "Especially with mixed company."

"Oh, you speak English," Vicki said, half disappointed that she couldn't further practice her Japanese. "We just arrived pretty late, and I read that the bath was unisex…"

"No, not unisex," the lady said. "It runs in shifts. For some hours it's for men. At other times, like now, it's for women."

"Oh," Vicki said, the realization hitting her. "I must not have translated that part correctly."

"I apologize for our disturbance," Samantha said to the lady. "We just got off a long plane ride, and we thought we were alone in here."

"Do not fret," the lady said, taking notice of the concern on Erez's face. "I do not wish to alarm you; just to inform you of the mistake so you can avoid it in the future. In some ways, your arrival was good fortune, as I had dozed off, and your conversation awoke me." She gave a short bow to the three of them. "Kon'nichiwa, My name is Sato Hikari. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Kon'nichiwa," Vicki said, repeating the bow. "I am Kesler Vicki, and these are my friends, Peregrine Samantha and Beacan Erez."

"I think you got our names reverse," Erez pointed out.

"Actually, in Japan, we speak our family name first," Hikari explained. "But I understand the confusion. I studied over in America, and the cultural change did baffle me at times." She paused. "Although it is unusual for American children to be on their own, especially in a foreign country. Are your parents not with you?"

"Technically, no," Vicki said. "We're traveling with a group, and the three of us wanted to get cleaned up before bed, especially when we wouldn't get a chance to take a bath tomorrow cause we're supposed to be very busy and…"

Samantha elbowed Vicki in the side. "We don't need to bore Miss Hikari with all our plans," she said, trying to give Vicki the hint to not spoil any of their secrets.

"Actually, we would refer to her as Sato-san, because that's her surname," Vicki said, not missing a beat.

"And what kind of group would be traveling as such?" Hikari inquired.

"Well, I guess it's more like a family trip," Vicki continued, using the cover they had previously agreed upon while on the flight over. "They've been taking us all over the place, partially for business needs, and partially for the fun of it."

"You're family?" Hikari asked, now focusing on Samantha, whose bronze skin stood out quite a bit against Vicki and Erez's paleness.

"They're technically our uncles, so in a way that makes the rest of our cousins," Vicki said. "That's why we're so close. They figure if we're together, we're fine taking a bath here without them, if just for a little while."

"Ah, that is good," Hikari said. "I just want to make sure you are well taken care of. In our culture, we take care of our younger children, but I understand that Americans can differ quite a bit on the matter."

"Yes, our cultures are different, but that's part of what makes it so fascinating to travel here," Vicki said. "You said you've been to America. What did you think of that? Where did you travel to? What are the best places to travel around here? I know I might not get a lot of time to wander around tomorrow, but there's so much to see and do and…"

Hikari held up her hand to cut her off. "I am sorry, Kesler-san," she said. "But it is very late for me, and I have already stayed in here for too long. Perhaps if you are here tomorrow night, we may continue our conversation."

"Are you here a lot?" Vicki asked. "Do you work in the hotel?"

"I am working nearby, and have been staying here for the convenience," Hikari said, stepping out of the bath, where Samantha could see that she was wrapped up in a towel, and had a nice, lean body.

"Sayōnara," Hikari said, walking to the changing room. "Enjoy your bath."

Vicki grinned sheepishly at her two friends. "Well, for a surprise visitor, that could've gone a lot worse."

"Well, it was so strange of you to have misread the bit about this being unisex," Samantha said accusingly.

"Honest mistake," Vicki said with a shrug. "I am still learning the nuances to this language."

"Well, that was still super awkward," Erez said, slouched down in the water.

"Yes, but we probably would've never met such a gorgeous Japanese lady otherwise!" Vicki said. "That's why Japanese bath houses are the best; the culture and social benefits are great."

"Just next time, read the sign properly," Samantha muttered, leaning back herself in the hot steamy waters. "For now, let's just relax in silence."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The next day started far too earlier for Samantha. Their bathhouse visit had been relaxing, but Yolanda still woke them bright and early in the morning. Despite the timing, Samantha felt decently rested; it had been the first legit bed she had slept in since before encountering Furno, and even if she had to share it with Vicki and Erez, it was still miles better than the military cots or uncomfortable plane seats.

Yolanda and Adam dragged Erez out quickly to begin their scouting mission. They wanted to have a rough idea of what the building was like before they started infiltrating it. However, even Yolanda recognized that they would have to improvise once they got inside and saw what they were really up against. In an effort to minimize that, she wanted to prepare as much as possible first.

The task David had assigned Samantha and Vicki was much easier; they needed to buy new outfits for the upcoming banquet. David had a whole list of supplies to pick up, but he prioritized getting the two girls into some nice dresses. "It will actually be better if you two are eye candy," he said. "If people are paying attention to you, they won't notice the rest of us sneaking around."

"But wouldn't that cause people to start asking too many questions?" Vicki asked. "It might bring unwanted attention."

"Trust me, at these kind of parties, everybody will dress like that," David said. "It would actually look more suspicious if you don't go all out for it."

But as lively as David was for their shopping trip, he was not prepared for Vicki. She wanted to tour Tokyo at top speed to visit all the places she could. This forced David to rein her in, since they had a packed schedule and couldn't afford time for all of Vicki's requests. If he turned his back on her for a moment, she would already be wandering half a block away to look into some new shop.

"This must be what Yolanda feels like when she's dealing with me and my brother," David grumbled to himself, as he dragged Vicki out of a cat themed café. "We do not have time for this!"

It was so fast paced that Samantha was exhausted by the end of it. She collapsed in the back of the cab on their ride back to the hotel, even as Vicki nearly crawled over her to look out the window at the passing skyline. "I'm going to need to come here for real on my own when this is all over," she said excitedly. "There's so much that I want to do, but I just can't get to it!"

When they arrived back at the hotel, the rest of their team was waiting for them, and Yolanda started sharing what they had discovered, with occasional input from Adam or Dr. Snowden. They had already identified a bunch of security checkpoints that they would need to pass, and they started brainstorming ideas on how to get through. Once they did that, they had pinpointed a server room which would give them full network access. But part of the problem was that the entire area was monitored via security cameras. The twins had some software they could use to hack into the security system, but that itself would require a second espionage trip, adding to their lists of tasks.

"Our timeline is quite short," Yolanda said, pulling up a chart. "The guests will start arriving by six. There will be the usual mingling period for the next two hours, where we can't make our move because there will still be too many eyes looking around. But Mr. Duter will start his presentation around eight, and that's when the full attention of the press and the guests will all be on him. That's when we make our move. However, the presentation is only slated to last half an hour, more or less depending on the nature of their big reveal. That means we need to infiltrate the facility, get our connection into the servers, and then sneak back out in thirty minutes. It'll be a tight turnaround."

"Of course, once we're in, the real work will begin," Adam said. "We'll need to start searching the records for what they're up to, and see if we can get some definitive proof. There won't be a big time crunch on this, but we can't wait too long either. If we can get a proper physical connection, we likely won't have to worry about the software detecting us unless we start copying excessive amounts of data over. But eventually somebody will notice the device or some blip on the server, so it would be best if we have what we need by then."

"And what do we do after we get that?" Erez asked.

David shrugged. "It depends on the intel. If Duter is clean, then we cross him off the list and move on. If the evidence is incriminating enough, we could bring it to the higher powers and maybe see if we can get them to approve Ricardo's big raid idea again."

"But in actuality, there will probably need to be a precision extraction," Yolanda said. "We find whatever Hero is here and whoever is controlling them. We break in, get them under control, and then leave. Similar to how we handled Marcello and Bulk in Sao Paulo, but hopefully less messy."

"We can only advance one step at a time," Adam said. "At the very least, if all goes according to plan, Duter will never know we were there, and we'll still have the element of surprise on our side."

"Well, I mean he'll know that we were there, at the party," David pointed out. "Guest books and all."

Their next task was to get ready for the party, and this involved more dress up than Samantha was used to. They needed to wash up again, put on their new fancy outfits, and lather on copious amounts of makeup. The process was one that Vicki was familiar with, as would many other girls from Samantha's school. But she herself had never been into dressing up, much less using makeup.

They split up into groups, because they only had so much space in the hotel room, so only a few people could get ready at once. Yolanda started by sneaking onto the roof where she and the kids summoned the Heroes. The majority of their mission would be done without the help of the Heroes, but Furno, Breez, and Evo would be on hand for emergency support in case something went wrong. Nex, meanwhile, would be monitoring the situation from afar. Of course, since the hotel room was too small to summon the Heroes in, Yolanda decided to find an inconspicuous spot on the roof where she could fill them all in on the plan. Once the Heroes knew what to expect, they returned to their cores, and Samantha and Vicki started getting ready for the party.

Half an hour later, Samantha stood alone in the bathroom, looking over herself in the mirror. She had selected a sleek red dress to wear, but although she had her measurements taken, she had not properly tried it on before. She frowned as she looked over her reflection; her arms, shoulders, and legs were more exposed than she was used to, and it made her slightly uncomfortable. The dress was also pinching her waist, creating a slight bulge at her hips which looked unattractive to her. She knew she had a healthy body, with an average amount of fat and muscle, but the dress only seemed to highlight the aspects she'd rather keep hidden. Even worse, some of her bruises and skin burns were visible, standing out on her bronze skin. Meanwhile, the shoulder straps were positioned oddly and the bottom of the dress restricted her leg movement. Briefly, she wondered how she'd be able to fight in such a dress, but conceded that it was probably not a concern for her on this mission.

She had to vacate the bathroom in order to let Yolanda get ready. Vicki clapped her hands as she saw Samantha in her dress. "Oh, you look so good in that!"

"I don't think so," Samantha grumbled. Vicki herself was wearing a frilly yellow dress, but it seemed to easily fit around her form, and she wore it with confidence. She looked good in her dress, and in Samantha's opinion, she pulled it off better.

But Vicki wasn't done with Samantha, and started applying makeup to her. Samantha tried to protest, but quickly realized that she should just stay still and allow her friend to do her thing. In addition to beautifying up her face, Vicki applied additional cover to hide some of Samantha's bruises, although she had to avoid the skin burns for fear of irritating them further.

"About ready?" Adam and David said, entering the hotel room dressed in snazzy suits, as they had gone to the bathhouse during men's hours to change.

"I think the two of us are about ready," Vicki said, stashing away the makeup. "Although Yolanda's still in the bathroom. How do we look?"

"You look like two lovely young women who will attract a lot of attention," Adam said with a wink.

"Now, you two will be posing as our nieces," David reminded them. "So remember your covers. You can keep your first names, but you're pretending to be Jocosus now."

"Although I guess they could still be considered family with different last names," Adam mused. "Which would also explain the racial diversity."

"Yeah, we've figured that out," Samantha said. "But are you sure you two should be going under your own names? I thought you had a history with Duter?"

"Well, the donation was in our name, so we want to stay consistent," David said. "Besides, if we are recognized, it'll be better if we're also not under a pseudonym."

"And if they catch us sneaking around, we already have a well-established cover story," Adam added. "But it's probably best if that doesn't happen. And in general we'd like to avoid any direct contact with Duter, just in case he does remember the incident with the fishing line."

"It seemed like a great way to hang a camera to get some exclusive footage, at the time, anyway," David said. "We didn't know it was going to get tangled with his drone demonstration."

"But if they know who you are, won't they find it funny that government agents are attending?" Vicki asked.

"Maybe if they knew we were government agents," David said. "But publically, the best connection they're going to get is that we were in the military at some point. We don't have a lot of public records about our employment out there. I mean, a few criminal records from various misunderstandings, but Ricardo and the other bureaucrats made sure to distance themselves from all those."

"As far at Duter Institute is concerned, we're just a couple of trust fund fanboys who are sometimes a little overeager," Adam said.

"Are you trust fund kids?" Samantha asked.

"Hell no," David said. "We grew up in a working class family, strictly middle class. Even our current salaries aren't much to scoff at, but we're talented enough that they can't can us, so we continue to collect paychecks from Uncle Sam."

"Of course, we did have a separate savings account," Adam added. "But that just got drained to get you tickets to this party. So you're welcome."

"What's Yolanda's cover?" Samantha asked. "She's not going to stand in as one of your nieces."

"Possibly a significant other?" Vicki asked.

David laughed out loud. "She'd object to that one for sure."

"Yolanda will be posing as our secretary," Adam explained. "Clearly us two goofballs needed somebody else to help tie things together and set us on the right path, thus explaining why we are honored guests instead of gate crashers this time around."

The bathroom door opened, and Yolanda stepped out. "I really don't like the idea of being an assistant to you two," she said darkly. "Unfortunately, it does look like the best cover to use." She paused, aware that everybody in the room was staring at her. "What, do I have something in my teeth?"

"You're wearing a dress," Adam stammered.

"You look like an actual lady," David clarified. "Heck, you actually look kind of hot."

Yolanda scowled. She was indeed wearing a black gown that gracefully slid down her form. Her uncovered arm muscles were apparent, but the rest of her features formed a smooth curve, making her look almost like a model out of a magazine. Samantha felt a ping of jealousy; why couldn't her dress look that good on her?

"I don't think we've ever seen you in formal wear before," David said. "You're always wearing some sort of military uniform.

"I've worn dresses before," Yolanda said. "I've actually worn this gown before, at a friend's wedding. But when I dress up for an event, you two generally aren't invited." She paused, taking in the twins. "You two cleaned up well too, but where the heck did you get those suits last minute?"

Adam and David grinned. They were both wearing smart builds, but the cuts and colors had mild highlights in their respective colors, red for Adam and blue for David. "We're also prepared for formal parties," Adam said. "We had these suits custom tailored years ago, and occasionally get them refitted. Just in case we ever need them."

"You have no idea how long we've been waiting to break these out," David said. "We got really close to using them at that one summit in Sydney a few years ago, but then Ricardo pulled us out."

"I mean, we did get to dress up in Dubai that one time," Adam said. "But we had to be careful not to outshine the various oil barons, so our suits were toned down."

"Well, for a while anyway," David said with a grin. "Some of us didn't stay in suit for the whole night."

Yolanda rubbed her forehead. "Enough reminiscing, you two; keep focused on the mission at hand. Do you have everything ready?"

"Already got the tech on us," Adam said. "We're ready to get this thing started."

Yolanda eyed the two girls and noted that they were finished dressing up. "If that's the case, then it's time," she said. "The banquet should be opening about now, so we need to head over. This mission is about to go live."


End file.
